


How 'Bout A Dance?

by rulesofthebeneath (radishphilosophy)



Series: How 'Bout A Dance? [1]
Category: Choices: High School Story: Class Act (Visual Novel)
Genre: ??????, Bonnie and Clyde (musical) - Freeform, Broadway, F/M, Future AU, Liberal use of OCs, Musical References, Off-Broadway, Professional Theatre AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 15:58:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19298998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radishphilosophy/pseuds/rulesofthebeneath
Summary: High school sweethearts Grace and Ajay broke up nearly seven years ago, but what happens when fate brings them back together one more time?





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of a departure from what I normally write, but I had this idea and it kinda got stuck in my head, and with the help of euphonyinestetica and ajaysbhandari on tumblr it kinda came to life. It’s basically a post-college ajay x mc au, where basically they broke up when he went to college and now, well… you’ll have to read to find out. I’m really excited to share this all with you guys. Projecting a total of 13 parts, major OC usage. Please please let me know what you think, Feedback is Life. Crediting: euphonyinestetica as cowriter and fierce editor.
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The cold March wind blew Grace’s hair across her face, temporarily blinding her. She sighed with thinly veiled exasperation and reached up to fumble it into a messy ponytail with numb fingers. She hitched her scarf up to cover her exposed neck and buried her nose into it, trying to shield herself from the cold. Continuing along 43rd Street, her chapped hands made their way back into her coat pockets. She cursed her Brooklyn apartment for being so far away, she cursed the six hours she’d already spent on her feet waitressing that day, and she cursed the entire state of New York for being so damn cold.

 

She finally reached the theatre, a tiny thing nestled between shops and restaurants on the upper west side, and silently slipped inside the stage door. It was still thirty minutes before rehearsal was supposed to start, but Grace took the saying “early is on time, on time is late, late is fired” to heart and didn’t want to leave anything to chance. She reached the stage and set her things down in a chair. Then, she went off in search of a bathroom so she could change into her dance clothes. 

 

A few minutes later, she was back onstage and a few of the other actors were there, along with the director, Charlie. Charlie was a man nearing his sixties with an impressive head of hair that he insisted was real. From the two rehearsals they’d had so far—the table read and the first sing-through—Grace gathered that he was the gentle kind of man, a rare find in New York City. He tended towards the eccentric in his creative decisions, but Grace had had worse directors. She was interested to see how he would direct this musical. She shot him a smile in greeting—he was in the middle of a conversation with their producer—and then sat down near a group of the other actors to start stretching.

 

The musical she’d been cast in was  _ Bonnie & Clyde _ , and Grace had never been more excited to be in a show. Well, maybe she had been more excited for her first show ever back in high school, but this was the first time she was the lead in a paying production. It didn’t pay much, granted, but that was what her day job (and Actor’s Equity) was for. She was in theatre for the passion, the heart, the excitement, and she was very eager to see what doors this would open for her. Grace had heard of people getting discovered in even less prestigious theatres.

 

A guy not much older than her, Kevin, played Clyde. He plopped himself down beside Grace and offered her a fist bump. 

 

“Your hair looks messed up,” he said by way of a greeting. “It’s hella windy out there.”

 

Grace rolled her eyes but paused her stretching to attempt to pull her hair into a reasonable braid. 

 

“Better?”

 

“Much,” he grinned at her. “How was the pub?”

 

“Same as always. Full of rude people. How was the drugstore?”

 

“About the same.” He sighed. “I can’t wait until tech week… Like yeah, all the ten of twelves will be hell but it’s a more pleasant hell than eight hours at the cash register.”

 

“Retweet,” Grace said absently. Her eyes followed the director as he climbed up on stage, having just ended his conversation. He was flanked by the stage manager and the producer, a middle-aged lady that Grace hadn’t met before but had seen watching the first read-through. She didn’t think it was normal for the producer to come to so many rehearsals, but she knew she was hardly an expert. Charlie clapped his hands once to draw the attention of all the actors and everyone’s attention turned to him.

 

“Actors,” he said in his booming voice. “I have an announcement. Last night, I was offered a job directing an off-Broadway production. I have loved the work that we’ve done in our short time here, but I have to do what’s best for my career. So I’m sorry to say that I will be leaving you, effective immediately.”

 

In the pause where he took a breath, Kevin muttered a shell-shocked “what the  _ fuck _ ” from beside her. Grace didn’t really know what to think. Her mind had gone blank, save for one phrase that she couldn’t stop repeating:  _ failure _ . The first production that she was a lead in was now officially a  _ failure _ . She shook her head as she realized that she was going to have to start the nerve-wracking audition process all over again, the processes that gave her twenty rejections before one measly job. The best job opportunity of her life so far: a  _ failure _ .

 

The other actors had broken out into mutters too, all of them looking as shocked as Grace felt. A voice from the back spoke up above the noise and all eyes fell on her, a woman that Grace vaguely recalled as playing Blanche, as she stood up.

 

“So the show’s just done then?” she asked, her voice trembling but still somehow managing an accusatory tone. “After everything we’ve done?”

 

The director’s eyes widened. “No, no, of course not!” he stuttered, his hands flying up in front of his chest, taking a few steps back. “I’ve arranged for Annette Keiser,” he indicated the stressed producer, “to conduct interviews for a new director as quickly as possible. In fact, I believe her first appointment is in thirty minutes.”

 

“Yes, yes. We’ll have a new director by Monday, I promise you that you won’t be out of work. I know of a few promising young directors that are interested in the show that I’ve contacted since last night. I’ll make sure that we only get the best.” Annette announced in a strained voice, giving away how stressed the normally bubbly woman was. “Now, I have to go prepare for my first appointment. Everyone is dismissed until Monday.” With that, she and Charlie walked off the stage in opposite directions. The stage manager nodded at the group of actors for whom the shock still hadn’t worn off, then scurried off stage to inform the techs of the new development. The actress that played Blanche walked over to Grace and Kevin, both of whom were still sitting on the floor mid-stretch.

 

“Well, that was a surprise twist,” she said in a soft, lilting southern accent. 

 

“No shit, Rosa,” Kevin chuckled, causing Grace to smile. He got up and started brushing off his pants. “Hopefully I’ll see you on Monday, Grace. You too, Rosa,” he said, then sauntered off the stage.

 

Rosa rolled her eyes in his direction, also biting back a laugh. She stuck out a hand to help Grace up. After a beat Grace took it, smiling.

 

“So I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink,” Rosa said. Her words broke a little of the worry in Grace’s heart, and she started to giggle.

 

“Where do you live? There’s a good pub in Brooklyn, does a nice fish and chips and an even better whiskey.”

 

“Ooh, fish and chips does seem like it would hit the spot. Whiskey too. I live in Brooklyn, so it sounds alright to me.”

 

“Let’s go, then.”

Neither stopped to change out of their dance clothes, but just bundled back up and threw their bags over their shoulders, and both recoiled as soon as the cold wind hit their faces.

 

“Ugh. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” Rosa complained. “The place I’m from, it never snows. The summer heat’s brutal, though.”

 

“Oh, where are you from?”

 

“Texas,” she answered in an exaggerated accent. “Real southern belle right here.”

 

“Damn,” Grace replied. “You’ll have to help me perfect my accent. This whole musical takes place there.”

 

“If there is a musical anymore,” Rosa rolled her eyes. “But anyways, enough about that. Where are you from?”

 

“Oregon,” Grace sighed. “But I went to southern California for college, so I’m not quite used to this cold either.”

 

“Oregon, huh? Farm girl?”

 

“Small town girl.” She hummed a couple bars of “Don’t Stop Believin’”, making Rosa laugh. “My parents own a diner. I think everyone was surprised when both me and my twin brother ditched Oregon for LA. We both went to USC, and he plays for the Chargers now. I guess in comparison I’m the underachiever,” she joked, trying to laugh off the accidental reveal of too much information. Rosa, bless her, smoothly ignored it and changed the subject.

 

“So your family’s all over the place, huh? Everyone I know is still in San Antonio. We’re all either there or Mexico, but I haven’t seen my Mexican family in a long time.”

 

Grace hummed in sympathy. “My twin and I were adopted. It was a closed adoption, so I still have no idea who my birth parents are, other than that they were Thai. My adoptive parents—my real parents—don’t have good relationships with their parents so I don’t have much extended family. Our family was basically the whole town.”

 

After a few steps in silence, Rosa spoke up again. “Well, I bet that soon enough both you and your brother will be big stars.”

 

“Aw, Rosa.”

 

“No, seriously though. You’re an amazing singer, I heard you during the first sing-through. I thought, damn, how does such a big voice come from such a little person?”

 

“I’m not that small!” Grace protested. Rosa just laughed from a height six inches taller than Grace. Grace adjusted her bag on her shoulder, accidentally hitting a passerby in the shoulder.

 

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” She whipped her head around to apologize to him, tucking her bag closer to her. She'd only lived in New York City for a few months, and hadn't yet succumbed to the rudeness the people of the city were so known for.

 

“That’s okay!” he shouted over his shoulder, not even looking back. He must have been in a hurry. But when he turned his head, Grace thought the recognized him. The black mop of hair, the tortoiseshell glasses, the crooked grin that she’d barely caught before he turned away. She stopped in her tracks, dodging pedestrians to try and get a better look at the retreating man.

 

Rosa noticed Grace had stopped and walked back over. 

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah, I just-” Grace started breathlessly. “I just... thought I saw someone I knew.”

 

Rosa raised an eyebrow. 

 

“It probably wasn’t him. I haven’t seen him in, God, seven years? Yeah, no way that was him.”

 

“Is there a story there?” Rosa asked.

 

Grace’s face flushed a bit. “There is, but… you’ll have to buy me a few drinks first.”

 

“Hell, I’m not made of money,” Rosa laughed. “I live in a shoebox for 1300 a month, if I could buy you more than one drink I would.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll tell you later, it’s not anything too interesting.”

 

“Whatever you say.” 

 

The two finally reached the Brooklyn pub after a long subway ride that was a welcome reprieve from the cold. The inside of the pub was warm with soft yellow lighting. It was clear that it was more of a hole-in-the-wall than anything classy, but they both were more comfortable with the casual setting. They both sat at the bar and the bartender made a beeline over.

 

“Hey, Grace! Back so soon?” he teased. Grace rolled her eyes.

 

“Just looking for some food and some drinks for my friend and me. Our director left the production, so we might be out of a job soon.”

 

Rosa swatted her. “Don’t say that! It’s bad luck.”

 

Grace turned to her in surprise. “You were saying the same thing not even an hour ago!”

 

“I’m  _ trying _ to be optimistic!” Rosa retorted, making them both laugh. Grace turned back to the bartender.

 

“Aaron, do you know if anyone has a shift this weekend that needs to be picked up? I didn’t get scheduled at all.”

 

“We’re closing for a renovation this weekend, remember? Getting new wallpaper.”

 

Grace wrinkled her nose as she looked around at the peeling wallpaper, completely torn off in some places and horribly stained in others. “Good, we need it. But that just means I’ll starve this weekend.”

 

“Better eat hearty tonight, then. Employee discount, remember?”   
  


“Oh, that’s right!” Grace brightened up. “Two Old Fashioneds, then, and two plates of fish and chips.”

 

“Comin’ right up,” Aaron said as he turned to grab bottles off the shelves. Rosa turned to Grace.

 

“So, spill. Who was that guy on the street?”

 

“It probably wasn’t even him,” Grace deflected.

 

“Well, who did you think he was?”

 

Grace let out a long sigh. “That guy just… looked a lot like my high school ex. That’s all.”

 

“Oh, so what’s the story there? Messy breakup? Lots of drama?” Rosa rested her chin on her hands, eager for the story.

 

“Ugh, no, not at all. He was two years older than me, so we broke up when he went to college. He went to NYU, so we decided long-distance wasn’t really an option. It sucked a lot because we were together for almost a year and a half, but there’s no bad blood between us or anything. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, so I was just surprised. But that probably wasn’t even him. A lot of guys these days like the glasses and blazers-with-jeans look.”

 

“Hmm,” Rosa hummed, a little disappointed. “Wouldn’t that be weird if it was him, though?”

 

“Yeah, really though,” Grace laughed. “Honestly, I’m not really sure what he’s up to nowadays. We don’t really talk, and he’s not too active on social media. Whoever that man was, he just gave me a serious blast from the past.”

 

Aaron set their drinks down, and they both smiled gratefully before picking up their glasses and clinking them together.

 

“To the new director,” Rosa suggested.

 

“To the new director!” Grace responded. “Whoever they are, they’ll have a hell of a job.”


	2. Part 2

“I have to say, your resume is quite impressive, especially for being so young. You have all the qualities we’re looking for, and a good amount of experience. And it is true that we’re in a bit of a rush to finish up the hiring process. I really think you could be an asset to this production.”

 

“Thank you, ma’am. I’m not sure what to say, other than that I’m looking forward to working with everyone.”

 

“Speaking of… because we’re in such a hurry, would you mind taking some things home? Rehearsals restart on Monday, and I’d like you to be familiar with everything by then.”

 

“Of course,” Ajay smiled as he reached for the stack of papers on Annette Keiser’s desk. He quickly scanned the first few pages of the script, looked at the notes the old director had written down during the first two rehearsals, and flipped over to the cast list and headshots. As he combed through it, one picture stuck out. He froze.

 

“Grace Lee?” he asked, trying to disguise the sudden shake in his voice.

 

“Yes, our Bonnie. She’s a new find but very talented. I have a few concerns about her stamina during performances, but given the limited run of the show I’m not too worried.”

 

“Hm,” Ajay hummed. “I… she…” He tried desperately to get his thoughts together. “We… went to high school together.”

 

Annette raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought she was from some small town in Oregon?”

 

“She is. So am I. God, I don’t think I’ve seen her since I left for college.”

 

“Theatre’s a small world. Were you friends?”

 

“We, ah... “ Ajay swallowed. “We actually had a relationship in high school, for about a year and a half.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Ajay and Annette both sat there, taking in this new information. Then, they both started speaking at the same time.

 

“It won’t be a problem-” Ajay said, just as Annette said “Will this be an issue?” Annette laughed politely. 

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“It won’t be a problem,” Ajay started again, “because we ended things on good terms. There’s no hard feelings.”

 

“That’s a relief,” Annette replied. “I didn’t want to have to go through the process of finding another director.”

 

“Of course not.”

 

“You’re sure this isn’t a problem? I hope you understand that I would need to know before you start working on the show, for everyone’s sake.”

 

“I promise it won’t be a problem. I was just surprised, but Grace and I are on good terms. I might ask that you give her a call before Monday, though, just so I don’t surprise her when I show up.”

 

“That’s high priority on my never ending list of things to do.”

 

Ajay laughed. “Well, I’ll get out of your hair then. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I won’t disappoint you.”

 

“You’d better not,” Annette jokingly threatened, waving a pen in his direction. Ajay slipped the papers into his briefcase and left her office, completely bewildered at the turn that afternoon had taken.

 

He’d been finishing up his shift at the coffee shop he worked at when his phone rang, an unknown number. He answered and it was somehow a request for an interview from someone who’d seen his small production of  _ Little Shop of Horrors  _ that had run a few weeks ago at a small downtown theatre. He was shocked that they were considering him to direct at one of the most well known non-Broadway theatres, but looking back, he shouldn’t have been that surprised.

 

His BFA in directing from NYU had opened up many doors for him, even some professional jobs before he’d finished his degree. He was still young but had a good reputation, at least on small productions. Ajay had always known that he wanted to be a director, and he still felt honored that he got to live that dream every night. It got him through the brutal shifts at the coffee shop, making and remaking drinks for thankless customers. It didn’t help that the coffee shop was in Chelsea, and Chelsea residents weren’t well known for their patience. The only thing that made it worth it, other than the fulfillment of his directing dream, was the apartment he shared with his roommate and longtime best friend in the East Village, putting them in the middle of all the action of New York.

 

Ajay loved the city, loved how busy and loud it was all the time. It made an inspiring background soundtrack for his 3 AM ramblings, when he sketched out blocking tipsy from three glasses of merlot and drunk on the energy that New York just seemed to emanate from every corner. He especially loved it when it rained, during the summer when he could throw on a t-shirt and sweatpants and stand outside, letting the rain drip off his nose and soak his hair. He loved how the rank smells from the sewers or the dumpsters got washed away during a storm, and for the first few moments after it passed the city smelled brand new. 

 

Jake, his roommate, rolled his eyes when he walked through the door dripping rain onto the carpet, and sighed in defeat when he left for work in the morning and Ajay was still working on something he started the night before. Ajay sighed when he had to turn the volume up on his music after Jake brought people home, rolled his eyes whenever he failed to sneak whoever his one night stand was out the door before Ajay could notice. They had been college roommates since his sophomore year and had undoubtedly seen the worst and the best in each other.

 

When Ajay let himself into the apartment, Jake was frowning at a computer screen. Not entirely atypical behavior for the film editor. He looked up when Ajay walked in.

 

“I just got a job?” Ajay announced hesitantly. Jake brightened, leaning over to give him a crisp high five. 

 

“Nice! Where?”

 

“Doing, uh,  _ Bonnie & Clyde.  _ With a theatre on the West Side.”

 

“Ooh, bougie. Know any of the cast or crew?” Theatre was such a small world in New York that the question was completely reasonable.

 

“I recognized a few of the names on the cast list, but I haven’t worked with any of the crew before. My, uh, ex-girlfriend from high school is one of the leads,” He answered, mumbling the last few words.

 

“WHAT?” Jake nearly yelled. “Wait, from  _ high school _ ? What’s her name?”

 

“Grace,” Ajay grumbled. “Honestly, of my exes, she’s the one I’d rather work with above any of the others.”

 

“Why’s that?”

 

“Well, she’s the only one who didn’t rip my heart out and stomp on it,” Ajay started, trying to keep bitterness out of his voice. “We ended things on like, decent terms when I first went to NYU.”

 

“How long did you guys date for?”

 

“Longer than I was with either Thomas or Isabella.”

 

“Damn,” Jake whistled low. “That’s crazy. You think it’ll be awkward?”

 

“Hmm, maybe a little. I don’t know, she’s pretty easy-going. I think the producer’s going to warn her before I just show up at rehearsal on Monday.”

 

“Probably good. Hey, you got anything to do this weekend?”

 

“Mmm, gonna work Saturday morning, but nothing on Sunday.”

 

“I know you’re usually a whiskey-and-brooding type of guy, but I need a wingman for Saturday night. You in?”

 

“Ugh, fine. As long as I get my federally mandated fifteen minute break every four hours.”

 

“For your whiskey and brooding?”

 

“Absolutely.”


	3. Part 3

Grace’s phone rang, unceremoniously waking her up at 10 on Saturday morning. She grumpily hit the ‘Accept’ button and raised it to her ear.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hi, is this Grace?”

 

“Yeah. Annette?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Oh, hi. How’re you doing?”

 

“Just fine, thank you. I hope I didn’t wake you up?”

 

“Just a little. But don’t worry. What’s up?”

 

“I wanted to speak to you for a moment, about our new director. Because you’re one of the leads, so you’ll be working closely with him.”

 

Grace suddenly sat up. “You found a new director? God, I was terrified you were calling to tell me I was unemployed.”

 

“Oh, no, nothing like that.”

 

“Thank God. So, what did you want to talk about?”

 

“Well, I was able to hire a new director last night. He’s young, only a couple years older than you. He’s got a lot of good experience, though, and I’m feeling optimistic.”

 

“Okay…” Grace trailed off, not sure where this conversation was headed.

 

“His name is Ajay Bhandari. He said you two went to high school together.”

 

“Holy shit,” Grace said reflexively, then immediately clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, my god, I didn’t mean to say that, please ignore that.”

 

Annette laughed, but then quickly became more serious. 

 

“He told me that you two dated in high school. He assured me that it wouldn’t be a problem to work with you, but I wanted to check with you to make sure that’s true.”

 

“Whoa. Theatre really is a small world.”

 

“Yes. So, is it going to be a problem? Working with him?”

 

“I- no,” Grace decided. “Definitely not. We didn’t have a messy breakup or anything. It might be a bit awkward, but we can move past it.”

 

“Good, I was hoping you’d say that.” Annette sounded relieved. “Then I’ll see you on Monday. And let me know if anything changes, alright?”

 

“Alright. Thanks, Annette. See you Monday.”

 

Even though she heard the dial tone, Grace kept the phone to her ear until she came back to reality. She dropped the phone on the mattress beside her and flipped over so she could stuff her face into a pillow. Her gray cat, Isra, jumped unexpectedly onto her back and curled up there. For her part, Grace just screamed into her pillow.

 

Isra’s warm weight calmed Grace down. She turned over, accidentally dislodging the cat, when a soft knock sounded at her door. 

 

“Grace?” asked a soft voice, belonging to her roommate, who cautiously stepped in the room. “You okay? I heard… screaming.”

 

“Mayleen. Um, yes. I’m fine.” Grace said unconvincingly. 

 

Mayleen’s expression fell, and she perched on the edge of the bed. She waited silently for Grace to start talking.

 

“I’m not… upset. Really. I was just a little surprised by something.”

 

“Yeah? Something at work?”

 

“Yeah. Our director quit, and they were working on hiring a new one. That was my producer, just letting me know who they ended up hiring.”

 

“Who was it?”

 

“My ex.”

 

Mayleen’s eyes immediately narrowed. Grace caught the change in expression and rushed to fix her mistake.

 

“No, no! Not  _ her _ , my ex from high school.”

 

Mayleen’s face softened with relief. “God, I can’t even tell you what was running through my mind when you said that. I don’t want you to have to see her ever again.”

 

Grace looked away. “No, I know. And you’re a good friend. My ex from high school—his name’s Ajay—we only broke things off because he went to college. Honestly, it was the least painful breakup I’ve ever had.” 

 

“So what’s the problem?”

 

“I mean… it’s definitely gonna be weird. I don’t think I’ve seen him since we broke up, and now he’s suddenly my director?” Grace sighed, but her mind was racing. Another reminder of a failure: the failure of her first relationship, her failure to keep her first love, the first in a long line of failures throughout her adolescence. She absently noticed that her hands had started shaking.

 

Mayleen put her hand gently on Grace’s left one. Isra, apparently having forgotten the earlier slight against her honor, tentatively curled back up in her lap. Grace ran her hand through the cat’s fur, then made eye contact with Mayleen.

 

“I think you might be panicking. Should we do the thing where we go distract you for a bit and see what you think after that?” Mayleen offered.

 

“I think that’s a great idea.” Grace smiled and shifted her hand to squeeze Mayleen’s. She hoped it would convey how grateful she was.

 

“Wii bowling, then? I’ll kick your ass.”

 

“You won’t!”

 

“I always do.”

 

An hour and three bowling games later, the roommates were laughing on the couch, trading anecdotes from work.

 

“So I get to work three hours late because the person who literally  _ asked for my shift _ didn’t show, and my manager is just completely red in the face,” Mayleen said between giggles. “She won’t make eye contact with me, just points at a register and makes this grunting sound. So later, the store’s quieter, I ask another cashier what happened. And they said that the person who was covering my shift really did come in, but the manager–”

 

She was cut off by a sudden noise from the intercom near the front door. They exchanged confused looks, and Grace got up to see who it was. She pressed the button to let her talk to whoever it was.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Grace! Thank god. I was hoping I read your handwriting right.”

 

“Rosa? Hi, what are you doing here?”

 

“I made too many campechanas. Also I wanted to hang out with you.”

 

“I’ll buzz you in,” Grace said immediately after she heard about the pastries. “Third floor, 306.”

 

Two minutes later, Grace let in a grinning Rosa toting a small basket of pastries.

 

“Oh my god, you’re officially my favorite!”

 

“Um, hi?” called Mayleen’s bemused voice from the couch she still hadn’t gotten off of.

 

“Oops, sorry. Rosa, this is my roommate Mayleen. Mayleen, Rosa’s also in  _ Bonnie & Clyde _ .”

 

“Nice to meet you, Rosa! What’s this I hear about campechanas?” 

 

Rosa set the basket down and laughed. “I went to a family breakfast this morning, but most everyone was too busy to stay for very long. I had a ton of leftovers. Try them, I’ve got apple, guava, and vanilla.”

 

Mayleen grabbed one and bit into it, revealing a pink filling. After slowly savoring the first bite, she ravenously tore into the rest of the pastry.

 

“Oh my god,” she said between bites. “Can I worship you now? Is that allowed? Please, be my pastry goddess, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

 

Rosa’s face turned a little pink and she shyly giggled. “I think that might be going overboard. But I love the enthusiasm.”

 

“What, doesn’t everyone react to your baking this way?”

 

“Honestly, you’re the first.”

 

“I can’t believe that.”

 

“Me neither,” Grace chimed in, having just taken a bite of an apple campechana. “This really is amazing, Rosa.”

 

“You guys flatter me.”

 

All three laughed for a second, then Grace’s hand fell to the table.

 

“Rosa! I completely forgot, I got a call from Annette this morning. We have a new director.”

 

“Oh! Wow, okay, good! Do you know anything about them?”

 

“Well, I actually know quite a bit. His name’s Ajay Bhandari, he’s really young, like only a few years older than me, he’s directed some pretty successful productions in the city, and he’s my ex-boyfriend,” she said, as nonchalantly as she could. The information took a second to hit Rosa, but when it did, her eyes widened and her mouth almost dropped open.

 

“Wait, excuse me? Your ex-boyfriend? Really?”

 

Grace nodded. “Really.”

 

“And you’re… okay with this?”

 

Grace shot a glance at Mayleen, and smiled tentatively. “Yeah, I think I am. We didn’t have a bad breakup or anything. It might be a little awkward at first, but he’s definitely a great director. I think it’ll be really good for the show to have him.”

 

“Wow…” Rosa sighed. “That’s… crazy. But I’m just glad we have a director. And Grace…”

 

She moved to take Grace’s hand.

 

“I hope you know you can rely on me to support you. I know we haven’t been friends for very long, but I have your back.”

 

Grace pressed her lips together, trying not to betray the emotion in her voice.

 

“Thank you. That means everything to me.” She cleared her throat, trying to swallow the thickness. “But I really don’t think it will be a problem. Ajay’s genuinely a good guy.”

 

All three smiled at each other around the table, overwhelmed by the sensation of pure and unconditional friendship flowing between them. It was a feeling so strong none of them needed to say anything to confirm it. Grace had almost opened her mouth, surely to say something sappy, when Rosa squeaked.

 

“Oh my… who’s this?” she squealed, picking up Isra. “Did you smell the campechanas?”

 

As if in response, Isra meowed directly at Rosa. Mayleen and Grace broke into laughter and Rosa touched her nose to the kitten’s head.

 

“That’s Isra. She’s our needy little baby.” said Grace. Mayleen rested her chin on her hand, captivated by watching Rosa play with the cat. Grace wiggled her eyebrows and Mayleen blushed.

 

“She’s  _ precious, _ ” Rosa cooed, pressing kisses to the cat’s head. 

 

Grace smiled as she watched Rosa play with the cat. Mayleen turned to her.

 

“So, you’re feeling better?” she whispered.

 

“Yeah. There’s nothing to be worried about, other than a little awkwardness.”

 

“Good.” Mayleen smiled.

 

“Thank you,” Grace said, looking down and playing with her hands.

 

“Hey, no problem. I do it too.” Mayleen pulled Grace into a hug.

 

Grace squeezed Mayleen tightly, thankful for her friendship and feeling good about rehearsal on Monday.


	4. Part 4

Ajay settled into his new desk at the front of the theatre, happy to be off his feet for the first time that day. It had been a brutal shift at the coffee shop, but now he got to go back to doing what he loved the most: directing. He stretched his legs out under the table and flipped open his copy of the script. He’d written down the previous director’s rudimentary blocking in the margins, along with a few edits he felt were prudent.

 

Footsteps on the theatre’s thin carpet alerted him to another presence. Without looking up, he addressed whoever it was.

 

“I didn’t think anyone else would be here this early,” he said.

 

“Well, a certain director once told me to be early is to be on time,” came the familiar voice. He looked up returned her nervous smile.

 

“That I did.” He got up and walked over to her. “Grace, nice to see you again.”

 

“Same to you. I see your style hasn’t changed since high school,” she teased, pointing out his beige blazer.

 

“Oh, I guess not,” he replied awkwardly. They both stared at their feet for a few moments.

 

“So, you went to USC, right?” he finally asked, still not quite making eye contact. 

 

“Yeah,” she answered. “James and I both did, actually. He plays for the Chargers now.”

 

“Does he really?” Ajay’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, I don’t really follow sports. Especially not from the West coast. Wow, that’s great for him.”

 

“Yeah, it is.”

 

Another awkward silence.

 

“So, Annette talks a big game about you. You’ve been busy.” said Grace.

 

“I could say the same to you. As soon as I found out we were working together, I looked you up. Your performance in USC’s production of  _ Antigone _ ? Really, really good.”

 

“You think so? Thanks. I actually did the same, you have a ton of rave reviews online. Especially for  _ Little Shop _ .”

 

“Oh, wow. Yeah,  _ Little Shop _ was fun. I think this is gonna be a little more fun, though. Better budget,” he laughed. 

 

Grace tentatively laughed, too. 

 

“Grace?” called a voice from backstage. “Can you come help me with something?”

 

As if broken out of a reverie, Grace turned to the stage. “Yeah, coming!”

 

She turned back to Ajay.

 

“Duty calls,” she joked. Ajay waved her off, smiling, then sat back down to go over his script.  _ That didn’t go completely horribly _ , he figured. He settled in to make a plan for the four hour rehearsal, digging through the score to find group numbers that most needed rehearsing and looking at his blocking diagrams for the large scenes.

 

By 6, the time rehearsal was scheduled to start, all of the actors were gathered onstage. He got up and climbed onstage, gesturing for everyone to sit down. They sat in an arc around him.

 

“Hey, guys. So, as most of you guys already know, I’m your new director. My name’s Ajay, I went to NYU for directing, and I’ve done some small shows in the area over the last few years. I’m really excited to work with everyone. I want to be able to know everyone’s names by the end of today’s rehearsal, so could you all introduce yourselves to me? Just tell me your name and what role you’re playing, and if there’s anything else I need to know about you. Grace, could you start us off?”

 

Clearly caught off guard, Grace stuttered for a second before taking a breath and starting over. 

 

“You already know who I am.”

 

“Humor me.”

 

“Alright, fine. I’m Grace, and I play Bonnie Parker. Kevin?” She turned to the man next to her.

 

“I’m Kevin, I play Clyde.” Kevin smiled politely at Ajay.

 

“Rosa. Blanche.” said a woman with a southern accent, keeping her face completely neutral. Ajay figured she must be one of Grace’s friends and was choosing to reserve judgement on him. He nodded at her, then gestured to the next cast member. As everyone introduced themselves, he found himself adding their voices, heights, and general demeanors to his mental database. After the last person had introduced himself, Ajay nodded and stood up and dusted off his pants. Taking their cue from him, everyone else stood up.

 

“Alright. Thanks, everyone. I’d like to start off by singing through ‘God’s Arms Are Always Open’, just to get a feel for the ensemble’s sound. Then I think I’ll work with the leads a bit. So anyone not in the song, feel free to relax for a few minutes and look over lines or music. You can go into the lobby or into the dressing rooms to do that, whatever.”

 

Grace, Kevin, and one other guy (his mind helpfully supplied him with the name Andrew) left for the dressing room and Ajay turned his attention to the ensemble.

 

“Alright, guys. Let’s take it from the top.” He motioned to the musical director to play the opening of the song.

 

Ajay worked with the ensemble and the Preacher (an older man named Lysander, and no, he wasn’t kidding) for nearly half an hour, the musical director shifting members of the ensemble around to create the best sound. Ajay found himself pleasantly surprised by both Lysander and Rosa, especially the latter. Rosa had such a bold sound, perfectly fitting the character Blanche.

 

Just for fun, he ran the ensemble and Lysander through “Made in America,” then dismissed them to work with the musical director. He sent the stage manager to track down his leads and turned back to his notes for “This World Will Remember Me.”

 

Grace and Kevin appeared on stage moments later and Ajay got up to talk with them.

 

“I want to start blocking the scene before, during and after ‘This World Will Remember Me’. We can start on page ten, right where Bonnie’s car breaks down.”

 

They both nodded and climbed onstage. Ajay spoke with the stage manager, Emily, to make sure she was writing down the blocking, then scanned the stage. He envisioned the set sketches superimposed on the stage, with the help of the flats that had already been placed there. 

 

The blocking process went smoothly for the scene, Grace and Kevin following his direction perfectly and writing down every word he said. Even so, Ajay felt a little uneasy. Maybe it was just because it was his first day, but he felt a tension between the three of them. More specifically, he felt a lot of tension between him and Grace. Given their history he wasn’t surprised, but he was dismayed when she hesitated a moment before walking stage left or crossing downstage right. It seemed almost like she was wanting to say something, to criticize his decision, but she was holding back.

 

Ajay resolved to just let it go, to wait a few rehearsals and see if the tension eased by Saturday. Since Saturday was looking like an eight hour day for everyone involved, he wanted any tension dissipated by then. He knew that his cast had to trust them, and if one of the leads didn’t trust him then the rest of the cast would follow suit. 

 

They worked their way to the end of the scene and Ajay had to keep reminding himself of his promise to wait until Saturday, especially when Grace let out a slightly judgemental hum at one of his blocking decisions. He bit his tongue to keep the peace.

 

Anyways, if Grace had any real problems with his blocking, he hoped she’d be straightforward about it. He told himself that she was just stressed, that he was just paranoid, that the rough edges would smooth over after they’d worked together for a while. Even so, he found his nerves significantly frayed by the time rehearsal was over.

 

As Ajay pulled his coat on in the lobby, Grace gave him a cursory smile and a quick “good night.” He felt a little heartened at that: even if she didn’t like how he was doing things, she still respected him as a director. Things were on course.

 

He wrapped his scarf around his neck and left the theatre, on track to get to the 2nd Avenue station just before the F train did. He barely flinched as the cold wind hit his face, and with the ease of a practiced New Yorker, he set off briskly towards the station.

 


	5. Part 5

The rest of the week came and went in the same way the first rehearsal did. Grace found herself blocking out scenes with Kevin, Rosa, Andrew (who played Ted, a character that definitely gave her the creeps) and Elijah (Buck). The blocking was productive, but there was still a lot of awkwardness between her and Ajay.

 

Every time he said anything, giving a direction or even advice, she wanted to crack a joke, or make a comment, or teasingly argue with him. Something she would’ve done years ago, in the productions they’d done together in high school. But she knew she couldn’t do that now, so she kept her mouth shut. 

 

If she was completely honest with herself, Grace hated not having a rapport with Ajay. She just wanted to talk with him, to laugh with him, to be herself around him. She wanted to be his friend again so badly: an option they had definitely left open when they’d mutually broken up all those years ago. But everything just seemed awkward and stiff now. Grace convinced herself that it was just because they had to get to know each other again, but she still wasn’t sure.

 

The first day of rehearsal on Friday came and went much in the same way as usual: spotted with slightly awkward silences as she swallowed remark after remark, instead just nodding her head and doing what he asked. It was physically painful to not make snide comments but it wasn’t worth the possibility of him taking it the wrong way. She was currently hiding backstage, slightly irritated, waiting for the next time she was needed.

 

“Great,” she heard Ajay’s voice ring out from the house. “That’s where you’ll start ‘When I Drive.’ Then once that’s done… Grace?”

 

She poked her head out from behind the curtains. “What?”

 

“Do the loudest whistle you can from back there.”

 

Grace stuck a few fingers in her mouth and let out a loud, commanding whistle.

 

“ _ Nice _ ,” yelled Kevin, jogging over to high five her clean hand. Rosa applauded, and Elijah looked a little awestruck. Grace turned red.

 

“That works,” Ajay nodded. “Kevin, you’ll run over stage right to her when you say ‘She’s here.’ Then Buck and Blanche have their exchange— where you’re standing right now is fine for that. Then Clyde will bring Bonnie in, holding her hand—yes, just like that. Bonnie, you’ve heard Blanche’s ‘tart’ comment, so you’ll be defensive.”

 

Grace crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her weight onto one foot, cocking her hip.

 

“No, give me more than that. Are you reacting how Bonnie would react, or how Grace would react?”

 

And for some reason, that last comment pissed Grace off. Who was he to know how she’d react? She wasn’t the same person she was all those years ago. Her free hand curled uncontrollably into a fist, and she set her jaw.

 

“Great!” came Ajay’s voice from the house. Obviously he was too far away to have realized that that was real anger, but Rosa had seen the look in her eyes. Rosa furrowed her brows and bit at a corner of her lip. 

 

As quickly as it had came, the anger left Grace and she relaxed. She shook her head at Rosa, who relaxed too but still looked worried. The overreaction was just another failure—a failure on Grace’s part to control herself. She put up an extra wall to hide it.

 

The four made their way through the rest of the scene slowly. At some point, Ajay caught on to Grace’s extra defensiveness. He shot her several confused expressions over the course of the blocking, but didn’t say anything. Lysander and the ensemble were called in to start the tedious blocking process for “God’s Arms Are Always Open.” As the rehearsal dragged on, Grace found herself getting more and more tense, her arms and legs starting to ache from the stiffness.

 

Once the blocking was finally over, Ajay smiled at the cast. “Great job, guys. Take fifteen. Grace, Kevin, Rosa, Elijah, can I get you to help me with something?”

 

They all nodded and followed his lead as he set off backstage. Rosa fell back to walk beside Grace.

 

“You okay? What was that, earlier?”

 

Grace sighed. “I don’t know. I think I’m just tired.”

 

“Like, sleepy tired or tired of something?”

 

“Tired of this tension between me and Ajay. Also, tired of being on my feet. I didn’t have a fun shift this afternoon.”

 

“I get it. And as for the tension… I don’t know. Maybe it just takes time. But you’ve got me in your corner.”

 

“That I do,” Grace said, smiling at Rosa. “I’m lucky.”

 

Rosa wrapped an arm around Grace as they caught up with the group at the door to the props closet.

 

Ajay stood there unlocking it, then turned to face the group.

 

“I was hoping you guys could help me bring out boxes of props. The props master already went home for the day, and I can’t carry all this by myself.”

 

All four quickly agreed, and he let them all into the large room that they called a closet. Grace located a “Bonnie & Clyde” labeled box near the front and picked it up. She shifted it into one arm and reached to turn the door handle– but it didn’t budge. She tried it again, with more force. Still nothing. She looked back to see that everyone had dispersed through the closet. Ajay was the closest, so she walked over to him.

 

“Um, Ajay? I think the door locked behind us or something.”

 

He whipped around, almost dropping the plates he was holding. Grace put a hand on the stack to steady it.

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah. Come see if you can open it, though. It might just be stuck.”

 

He carefully set the plates down inside another labeled box and followed her up to the door where, sure enough, he couldn’t get the handle to move either. He sighed heavily, softly punching the door.

 

“God, this is just like that time we got locked in the auditorium in high school,” Grace said, not thinking. When she realized what she’d said, she took in a sharp breath and watched Ajay carefully for his reaction.

 

He just stared at the door handle, until:

 

“I don’t have any secret snack stash here, though,” he replied, trying not to smile. Grace tried her best to remain neutral but was the first to break, letting out a snort that made him start chuckling. The week’s (years?) worth of tension dissipated in a second as they giggled about the shared memory.

 

“Well at least you didn’t ban phones from this rehearsal,” Grace joked between laughs, causing them both to start laughing even harder.

 

“No, I learned my lesson. I’ll text Emily, she’ll have another key. We’ll just have to remember to prop it open.”

 

“Thank god we won’t be here all night,” Grace said, starting off another round of laughter.

 

At this point, Kevin, Rosa and Elijah had finished packing up their boxes and the sound of the laughing had attracted them to the front.

 

“What’s so funny?” Elijah asked, seeming genuinely curious as to why Grace and Ajay had broken the tension between them. Grace, tears of mirth in her eyes, stopped laughing long enough to say “We’re locked in!” before making eye contact with Ajay and laughing again.

 

“Is it time to play Never Have I Ever? I’ve heard it’s actually fun with more than two people,” Ajay said.

 

Grace snorted again and reached up to swat him lightly. Something, a little  _ something _ that Grace couldn’t quite put her finger on, healed between them at that moment. She decided not to read too far into it.

 

Rosa met Kevin’s eyes and raised her eyebrows. Kevin just shrugged, not knowing what was going on either.

 

Luckily for Kevin, Rosa, and Elijah, Emily’s footsteps sounded outside the door and unlocked it. Ajay carefully drew a neutral mask over his face, but everyone could still see him biting back a smile.

 

Grace fell back into step with Rosa, and they walked in silence for a second.

 

“I think you might’ve just solved your tension problem,” Rosa said.

 

“Hmm, maybe. My freshman year of high school, we got trapped in the auditorium together overnight.”

 

Rosa hummed. “Well, whatever just happened there, it seems to have worked. I’ll bet y’all will work together a lot better now.”

 

“Hopefully.” Grace smiled. “I haven’t felt relaxed since we started rehearsals. Maybe that was all it took.”

 

“That would be great!”

 

“Definitely. Oh, completely changing topics, how would you feel about coming over tonight for dinner? It’s nothing special, we’ll probably just make ramen with egg and vegetables.”

 

“Oh…” Rosa tapped her fingers on the edge of her box. “Mayleen doesn’t mind?” she asked shyly, staring at the ground instead of looking Grace in the eye.

 

Grace lightly shoulder checked her. “She asked me to invite you.”

 

“Oh!” Rosa nearly fumbled her box. “Then… yes. Yes. I’d love to come over.”

 

Grace gave her a knowing smile, but didn’t press the issue. When they arrived backstage, they helped Ajay put the props on the table, already meticulously organized. When he saw her, he smiled warmly. She grinned back at him, a small glow making its home in her chest. Grace thought Rosa was probably right; the tension might finally be over.

 

Ajay sent her and Kevin down to the basement studio to learn the choreography for their big number at the end of Act 1, “This World Will Remember Us.”

 

As soon as they got offstage, Kevin shot her a weird look.

 

“I don’t think I’ve seen Ajay get along with anyone like that yet. What gives?”

 

Grace shook her head. “I don’t know. Ajay and I went to high school together, and my freshman year we got locked in the auditorium overnight. I think the coincidence got him out of his shell a little bit.”

 

“Oh, wow. Really? You guys went to the same high school?”

 

“Yeah! We grew up in the same small Oregon town. It’s crazy how small the theatre world is.”

 

“Really.” Kevin agreed. “Well, I’m glad you guys are getting along. It was crazy tense there for a second.”

 

Grace didn’t have time to respond before they were already in the studio, but she was a bit relieved. She didn’t want to have to explain the whole ‘exes’ thing again, and she especially didn’t want to explain the  _ something _ that had healed between them just then. She barely understood it herself. But she was really, really glad that things with Ajay were back in a good place.

 


	6. Part 6

He was probably biased, but Ajay liked Saturday rehearsals the best. Not only did the actors get to truly work with the technicians for the first time, but he loved a day that was just all about theatre. No loud coffee machines, no being on his feet for six hours, just all of his energy going into raw creativity, into building stories and worlds and relationships. This was why he loved what he did.

 

He had barely set foot in the lobby of the theatre Saturday morning before two teenagers came rushing in, slightly out of breath.

 

“Hi, are you Ajay? We’re here for rehearsal,” panted the boy. Ajay raised his eyebrows.

 

“Yeah, that’s me. You must be Jackson and Kaylie. Nice to meet you both. Why were you running?”

 

“Because we were late,” answered the girl. “You told us to be here at nine, and it’s…” she glanced at her watch, “five ‘til.”

 

“Oh! Oh, don’t worry about it. I just got here, too. Let’s go introduce you guys to the cast, okay?”

 

The teens nodded cheerfully and followed him through the doors to the theatre. Even just as a first impression, Ajay knew he liked these kids. Anyone who was that conscious of punctuality automatically earned his respect. 

 

He himself was only late because his roomate had had the courtesy to keep him up all night being, well,  _ rowdy _ with someone he had taken home from the club he frequented. He was fine with his roommate doing whatever he wanted, but he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t disgruntled from running on two hours of sleep. Usually when he was sleep deprived, it was at least because he was working or doing something else productive. It had taken him way too long to perform basic motor functions like tying his shoes or making coffee.

 

He stifled a yawn behind his hand and tapped his other hand on the stage, grabbing the cast’s attention. Grace shot him a smile in greeting, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes–maybe she was just tired. He made a mental note to check up on her later. He turned back to guide the kids up to the stage.

 

“So, everyone, as you probably assumed, this is Kaylie, our Young Bonnie, and Jackson, our Young Clyde. I want them to hopefully get to know everyone while they’re here on Saturdays and during tech and dress.”

 

Grace and Kevin were the first to introduce themselves, but overall the teens seemed to be a good fit in the cast. They were clearly experienced in the theatre business, settling in quietly to await his instruction. He went over his plan for the day in his head, then started telling everyone where to go.

  
“Alright guys, so this is what we’re going to do for at least the next two hours. Grace, Kevin, Kaylie, and Jackson: I want you all down in the studio learning your choreography for ‘Picture Show.’ The choreographer is also going to show you the blocking I worked out, and we’ll tweak that a little later. Everyone else, I want you to go through some vocal and physical warm ups, and then in ten minutes we’ll start working on Scene Three, in Blanche’s beauty parlor. Any questions?”

 

Silence.

 

“Great. Go for it!” He watched as the cast broke off into groups, then turned to where Emily sat at the desk they shared for rehearsals. He flipped through his script to get to Scene Three, then settled down at the desk.

 

“Anything interesting from the tech crews?”

 

“Not really. Lighting’s gonna be a pain, though, with all these scene changes.”

 

“Oh, I know. I’m actually planning to come here during the day next week to talk to the lighting head about their ideas.”

 

“Good idea.”

 

They sat there for a few more minutes, not speaking, until Rosa, Elijah, and three ensemble members came out onto stage. Ajay got up with his notebook and cleared his throat.

 

“Alright! So at the top of Scene Three, like we blocked, we’ll have the ensemble members sitting in those three chairs I’ve put upstage right, in that diagonal line. Rosa, Elijah: Buck and Blanche will be arguing downstage left. Blanche is on the offensive, Buck is on the defensive. Let me see that quickly.”

 

The actors all moved to their positions, and Ajay smiled. This show was really coming together. No, they didn’t have more than folding chairs for the salon seats or a fold-out table for the front desk, and no, Blanche wasn’t wearing a 30s style dress and Buck actually looked put-together in Elijah’s white button-down and beige chinos, but he could still see it all. He could see how it would look under the stage lights, he could see Rosa in the exact dress she’d wear for the show, he could see the way the background would move to reveal the line of salon chairs.

 

He clapped his hands together. “Start from the top, whenever you’re ready.”

 

Rosa shook out her legs and glanced at her script, trying to commit the first few lines to memory. Elijah smoothed his shirt down, having already somehow memorized the scene. Ajay was impressed, and made a mental note to tell Elijah that later.

 

Rosa looked up from the script and she was transformed into the angry southern belle.

 

“ _ Are you crazy? Bustin’ out of jail?” Blanche cried, barely reigning in her anger. _

 

_ “Now, baby-” Buck held up his hands and backed away, defensive. _

 

_ “Don’t you now baby me. How in God’s name did you let Clyde talk you into fugitivin’?” _

 

_ “It was my idea,” he admitted, cowering even more. _

 

_ “Yours?” _

 

_ “Yeah.” _

 

_ Blanche swelled up with anger, letting all of it pour out into a righteous fury in her next line.  _

 

From the house, Ajay couldn’t hold back a smile. This was even better than he’d thought. He’d had his doubts that the mild-mannered Rosa could carry Blanche’s rage, but he saw now that he’d underestimated her. She was powerful; even though she was shorter than Elijah, Blanche still seemed to tower over Buck. Ajay couldn’t give the previous director enough credit for this casting.

 

The scene moved forward. Ajay had to overcome a few technical troubles with the speakers connected to his laptop that played the soundtrack, but otherwise things went off without a hitch. He tweaked stances in one place and reanalyzed tactics in another, working slowly but surely through the scene and the song. He was really amazed by all the work his actors had done to prepare themselves for rehearsal, and resolved to tell them all that. Gone, he decided, were the days of Hardass Ajay. No, he’d make sure his actors got every bit of the credit they deserved. It’s what bothered him the most when he was an actor, and it was his biggest regret as a director.

 

Nearly an hour and a half later, the scene had been worked to Ajay’s satisfaction. They had done all the work they could do without the actors being off-book, and they weren’t required to be off-book until blocking was completely over. He ran a hand through his hair and grinned at the actors.

 

“That was great work, guys. Elijah, I’m really impressed by you being off-book already. Rosa, your power is really bringing Blanche to life. And I love the reactions of the girls in the salon, you’re funny without pulling too much focus. Keep up the great work!”

 

Rosa and Elijah high-fived and made their way offstage, just as Grace walked on.

 

“Wow, Ajay, was that a compliment I just heard?” she teased.

 

“Maybe one day you’ll get one too, if you’re lucky.”

 

The corners of her mouth curled up into a real, genuine smile. 

 

“That really is my one goal in life.”

 

They locked eyes and both stood still for a moment. At that instant Ajay felt a little bit on fire, a little bit drawn in, and a little bit like he had felt every day almost eight years ago. He sensed a raw, golden connection between them, thin as a string–but then Kevin appeared onstage with Kaylie and Jackson in tow, and the string snapped. Ajay couldn’t do anything but shrug it off and get back to work, but his eyes involuntarily tracked the movement of Grace’s hair flowing over her shoulders as she turned to talk to Kaylie about something.

 

He blinked and shook his head, throwing off the weird sensation. He concluded that he must be feeling faint from his lack of breakfast.

 

“Okay, top of the show. The lights will come up and Bonnie and Clyde are sitting in their car—those two chairs—and being dead.”

 

Grace snorted, and Ajay felt his heart lift a little bit. He ignored it.

 

“The intro music will play for a while, and then Kaylie, you’ll hear the start of ‘Picture Show’ and I want you to come out from behind that—there’ll be a kind of moving wall thing there—and walk in front of the car. Don’t look at the car, just look straight out at the audience, like you’re dreaming about life or your bright future or something. Jackson, just wait offstage.”

 

Everyone assumed their positions, Grace and Kevin taking their place in the chairs upstage. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Ajay felt a sickening sensation run up from his stomach through to his chest.  _ Damn hunger _ , he thought.

 

Ajay started the music, eager to see how to choreography looked with the blocking.

 

Kaylie had an astonishingly powerful voice for a fifteen-year-old (he looked back, cringing internally at his own squeaky teenage voice). She demonstrated within the first ten seconds of the song how fit she was for the role. She perfectly embodied Bonnie’s sassiness, but didn’t hesitate to bring a full emotional range to the character, especially during the short funeral for Bonnie’s dad. 

 

Once Jackson leaped onstage at the start of his cue ( _ wow, these kids are really professional _ thought Ajay) he knew that was when Bonnie & Clyde would leave the car, now behind a partition, to change out of their death costumes. He hit a button on his laptop to stop the music.

 

“Grace, Kevin, get up and go backstage now. Once Jackson comes on, you’ll wait about four seconds for the partition that we’ll have to close, then you can get offstage undetected by going off stage right. You’ll have to do a quick change out of the death costumes, but I’ll make sure you have some dressers on hand to help you do that. Then Grace, walk around to stage left and you’ll make your entrance center stage left at your cue. You’ll start singing when you enter, then start miming some idle diner activities, like wiping down the counter or pouring coffee.”

 

Grace nodded and disappeared.

 

“Kevin, on your cue you and Elijah will enter downstage right, both handcuffed, escorted by Andrew…” he trailed off, looking around until he spotted Andrew getting up from his seat in the house.

 

“Sorry, I forgot to call you to this scene. Go to where Kevin and Elijah are, and guide them both onstage with your hands on their shoulders.”

 

Andrew nodded and also faded backstage.

 

“Everyone ready to start again?”

 

Everyone made an affirmative noise, both onstage and from backstage. Ajay backed the music up a few seconds, and restarted it. After a few of those small cutscenes, during which Ajay made notes of things to fix later, Kaylie went back into the song’s chorus.

 

“ _ I wanna be her, I wanna be her, dressed in style like Clara, _ ” Kaylie sang. Grace entered, miming scribbling on a notepad.

 

“ _ I can see me, can you see me? _ ” they sang together, Grace holding the note for a little longer while Kaylie exited upstage. Grace arrived at where the counter would be and put down her mimed notepad, picking up an invisible rag and wiping at the air.

 

“ _ The main attraction at the picture show, like Clara Bow, like Clara Bow, the main attraction at the picture show. _ ” Grace sang.

 

Ajay felt his eyes widen as she sang. The only thing that ran through his head at that moment—, rather than the usual litany of critiques and comments—was one word:  _ goddamn _ .

 

Grace’s voice was so much the same as it had been in in high school, but also incredibly different. She kept the sweet mezzo that she’d always had, but under the surface was a newfound strength that transformed the whole thing into something resonant, into something powerful but still gentle, into something completely unlike he’d ever heard before.

 

Into something breathtakingly beautiful. 

 

And he didn’t quite know what to do with that, same as he didn’t really know where this new twisting sensation around his heart was coming from. It felt like he was being squeezed and could barely breathe, like something deep in his chest was burning him from the inside out. With great reluctance, he noted that she had quite literally taken his breath away.

 

It dawned on him that this was the feeling from almost eight years ago. This was the same squeezing and burning he’d felt as a junior in high school, watching a talented but unrefined freshman get up on the stage to audition for the school play. It was a long-dormant feeling, one that had been asleep for years and that he hadn’t even thought about until… now.

 

He’d found himself falling again.

 

_ Shit _ .

 

He tried to stop his heart from racing when he looked up at the stage and saw her up there with the stage lights bathing her in a golden glow, but it only beat faster and faster. He took a deep breath and, with more force than he’d ever done anything, pushed the feelings down. He knew he couldn’t contain them forever, but he couldn’t have it showing on his face during rehearsal. She knew him well enough to know exactly what was going on. And here where professionalism actually  _ did _ matter, unlike in high school, he couldn’t have her finding out.

 

He tried to take a step back from his own mind, focusing purely on how her sound blended with Kevin’s as they worked the scene. Objectively, he decided that the blend was good but could be better, and he’d send them down to the musical director to work on it after they finished working the scenes with Kaylie and Jackson.

 

Subjectively, though, he thought the sound of her voice was possibly the best sound he’d ever heard in his life.

 

From the stage, Kevin cleared his throat. Ajay blinked twice, then managed to pull his focus back to the present. They’d finished the scene.

 

“Uh, alright! Great!” he said, his voice cracking to betray how flustered he was. He quickly snuck a glance at Grace to see if she’d noticed, but she seemed… elsewhere. Absent.

 

“That was really good, but I do have a few notes. Grace, come in sooner, before you even start singing. Jackson, try and have a bit more energy. Other than that, everyone did a great job for the first work-through!”

 

Ajay somehow managed to keep himself afloat for the rest of the long rehearsal. At the end of the day, Grace caught him off-guard again with a warm smile—this one actually reaching her eyes.

 

He wanted so badly to reach out, to ask her what was wrong, to see if he could do anything to help, but he thought it would be inappropriate. So instead, he gave her a big smile back. And for now, that was enough.

 

Back at his apartment after rehearsal, Jake was sitting on the couch. He turned his head when Ajay opened the door, and raised his eyebrows upon seeing his roommate looking rather disconcerted.

 

“Good day at work?” Jake asked.

 

“I, uh.” Ajay mumbled, hanging his coat and scarf on a hook near the door and sitting down on the couch next to Jake. “I may have a slight problem.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You remember how my ex-girlfriend is in the show, right?”

 

“Yeah… did something happen? Is she hard to work with?”

 

“No, no, not at all,” Ajay said, burying his face into his hands. “I… I think I might have feelings for her. Again.”

 

“Shit.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

There was a moment of silence, and then:

 

“Do you think she might still be interested in you?” Jake asked quietly.

 

“It’s possible, but I wouldn’t bet on it. There were times today and in rehearsals this week when I thought we had a connection, but I could’ve been reading that all wrong.”

 

Jake hummed.

 

“Are you going to tell her?”

 

“Maybe… once the show’s over. But definitely not while it’s still running. That wouldn’t be professional.”

 

“Good call. Hey, I hope everything works out for you.”

 

“I just… you know this is the first time I’ve had any kind of romantic feelings for someone since Isabella. I guess I’m just not sure if I can trust myself yet.”

 

“It’s been four months, Ajay. I get being hesitant, especially since this girl’s your ex, and extra especially since what happened with Isabella, but you have to remember that you have time. If you don’t want to tell her how you feel until after the show, that gives you literally ten weeks to figure out if these feelings are legitimate or not. And if they could be returned.”

 

“I know, I know. I just,” he swallowed, “don’t want to get my hopes up.”

 

“Sometimes that’s what you have to do.”

 

Ajay sighed again, and Jake clapped his shoulder, then turned back to the TV. Ajay headed towards his room to take a shower, and tried to think of ideas for dinner.

 

He tried desperately to push his feelings down, but even though he told himself the feelings weren’t real, he couldn’t keep his mind off her all night.


	7. Part 7

The next week of rehearsal flew by in a haze of learning lines, memorizing blocking, and dealing with drunken pub patrons. By Friday, Grace was exhausted from working and from rehearsal. She had just barely managed to escape a leering customer at the bar when she was allowed to clock out. She wiped her hands on her apron after she hung it up, just in time to meet Rosa outside.

 

“How was your shift?”

 

“Mmmm,” Grace groaned. “Could’ve been better.”

 

Rosa wrapped an arm around Grace’s shoulders.

 

“Don’t worry; one day when you’re a big Broadway star you won’t have to do that anymore.”

 

Grace burst out laughing, and after a beat Rosa did too.

 

The pair reached the station and boarded the first F train heading into Manhattan. With a thirty minute train ride ahead of them, Grace searched her mind for something to say. Beside her, Rosa took a sip from her water bottle.

 

“So. You have a crush on my roommate,” she said bluntly. 

 

Rosa turned completely red and nearly spit out her mouthful of water.

 

“I wouldn’t go  _ that _ far…” she mumbled after swallowing.

 

“I would. Dinner with you guys last week was giving me insane third wheel vibes.”

 

Rosa didn’t say anything, her face still brilliantly red. She stared at her lap.

 

“In case you were wondering, it’s not weird to me. I actually think it’s really cute,” Grace said.

 

“Really? Are you sure it’s not weird?” Rosa asked without looking up.

 

“I’m sure. But just give me a heads up if you ever spend the night.”

 

Rosa giggled nervously, her embarrassment quickly fading. 

 

They relaxed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Rosa started talking again.

 

“So, you’re working ‘How Bout A Dance’ today, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Nervous?”

 

“Should I be?”

 

“I’m nervous for working ‘That’s What You Call A Dream,’ so, I would understand if you were. It’s a lot of pressure.”

 

“That is true,” Grace said thoughtfully. “I don’t think I’m nervous, though?”

 

“That’s good! Well, I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

 

The two chatted for the rest of the train ride and the short walk to the theatre. They got there about fifteen minutes early, just ahead of Ajay, who looked thoroughly disheveled and stressed out. 

 

He gave both of them a half-hearted smile as he made his way into the theatre, his eyes lingering on Grace a little longer than normal. Grace felt herself blush under his gaze, but she shrugged it off. She told herself it was probably just old habit.

 

She and Rosa changed and met back up onstage to start warming up. Kevin walked over to join them.

 

“Hey guys,” he greeted them, sounding exhausted.

 

“Long day?” asked Grace.

 

“Yeah, kind of. Had a crappy shift this morning, then had a horrible date.”

 

“Date? Someone new, or were you dating someone?” Rosa asked.

 

“Oh, someone new. I decided I’d been in Single Land too long, trying to get back out there.”

 

“I hear that,” Grace said. “Good for you. What made the date bad, though?”

 

“I dunno, I guess he and I just didn’t have good chemistry. Just didn’t work out, and I was hoping it would.”

 

“I’m sorry. Don’t let that discourage you, though.”

 

“I’ll try not to,” he replied with a small smile. Grace patted his shoulder encouragingly, then resumed her stretching.

 

After a few minutes of stretching and vocal warm-ups, Ajay gathered them all together. 

 

“Alright, guys. You might’ve noticed that there’s fewer of you here than before. I haven’t called the ensemble or some others to this rehearsal because I’m only planning on working Scenes Four and Five today. Rosa, you’re not in either of those scenes but I called you because I want you to rehearse ‘That’s What You Call A Dream’ and, time permitting, ‘You Love Who You Love’ with the music director.”

 

Rosa nodded and headed offstage. The rest of the present cast except Grace and Kevin took seats either in the house or out in the lobby to memorize lines or go over blocking. Grace paced aimlessly around the stage, awaiting Ajay’s instruction.

 

“Okay. Top of Scene Four. So this scene is in the woods. The car’s in the panel upstage center. Kevin, you’re in the car drinking a jar full of booze. Grace, you’ll be laying on a blanket on the ground, writing in a journal.”

 

They both nodded and took their places. Grace laid on her stomach a bit in front of the two chairs representing the car, crossing her ankles in the air. She mimed writing in her script, which she was just keeping onstage for emergency purposes. Behind her, Kevin lounged across both seats and pretended to drink something.

 

“Great! Go ahead and start, I’ll stop you if I need to.”

 

_ Clyde sighed, looking up. _

 

_ “So I figure the first thing is to hit some place with a payroll. Gas station, grocery store—can’t do nothin’ without cash,” he rambled. _

 

_ Bonnie focused on her writing, half-listening to him. _

 

_ “And you know what?” he said suddenly. _

 

_ “What?” she asked disinterestedly, not even looking up from her notebook. _

 

_ “You’re gonna come with me.” _

 

_ Bonnie smiled to herself. “What makes you so sure?” she teased. _

 

_ “That smile,” Clyde left the car and joined her on the blanket. _

 

_ “Just ‘cause I’m smilin’ doesn’t mean–” _

 

_ He cut her off. “I was talkin’ about mine.” _

 

_ Bonnie laughed. _

 

The scene continued smoothly, Ajay only calling hold a few times to fix an intonation that sounded too confrontational, or to move the blocking back into where the stage would be lit. Eventually, they got to the part where Grace would start her solo. Kevin led her centerstage, then sat back downstage right to watch. The music, tinny from Ajay’s budget laptop speakers, began.

 

_ “How ‘bout a dance? What do you say? I got some moves that I’d love to show ya,” she sang, pretending to use Clyde’s jar of booze as a microphone. _

 

_ “Now that’s nice!” Clyde called, bringing a smile to Bonnie’s face. She extended a hand toward him, inviting him in to dance with her. _

 

“ _ Let’s find a spot and dance the night away _ ,” Grace continued, drawing him in. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her in a little bit, leaving enough space between them to be polite.

 

“Hold!” Ajay called from the house. “Kevin, hold her closer. Remember, you want her.”

 

Kevin nodded and pulled her a little closer.

 

“Closer, Kevin. This isn’t a middle school dance.”

 

Kevin huffed out a breath and drew Grace a centimeter closer. She tried to smile encouragingly, but he seemed too frustrated to be convincing.

 

“Come on, Kevin, she won’t break–oh, to hell with it, I’m just gonna show you.”

 

Kevin stepped back, almost immediately relieved. Grace made a mental note to check in with him later to make sure he was alright. He hadn’t had that problem in their dialogue before. She thought it was strange.

 

Ajay arrived on stage with the pair, absentmindedly running his hands through his hair. She watched as the lighting reflected off of his black hair and lit his face from the side, making his jaw look sharper. She wondered if he’d always had that strong of a profile, or if this was a recent development.

 

“Grace, is it okay if I show him what he needs to do here?”

 

“Huh, what?” she said, breaking out of her reverie. “Yeah, it’s fine,” she covered quickly.

 

“You sure?” He raised an eyebrow, his expression impossible to read.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Okay. So, Kevin,” he turned to him, “I know Bonnie and Clyde have just met, but there’s nothing shy about either of them. I think you might’ve been trying to play it with restraint, but Clyde’s a rascal. If she wanted him to dance with her, he’d hold her like this.”

 

Ajay slowly edged closer, closer,  _ impossibly _ closer to Grace. His hands found their resting positions wrapped around her hips, and she threw her arms around his neck, like the blocking called for. He looked down at her from his height and they locked eyes. His hands tightened infinitesimally, and her breath hitched in her chest.

 

It was the sight of him, looking ethereal in the stage lights, and the feel of him so close that she felt his breath gentle on her forehead, that made her heart pound. Every feeling she’d ever had for him came rushing back through her, concentrated at the points where his hands were touching her, filling her body with a slow burn. She was sure all her blood had rushed to her face because her cheeks were so warm it was painful.

 

Something shifted in his eyes to make his expression softer and more vulnerable for a second. She stepped a millimeter closer.

 

“Oh, so you mean like  _ sexy _ dancing,” Kevin interrupted, jolting both of them. Ajay’s hands flew off her hips and he stepped back, and she found herself already missing the feeling. Her blush intensified, but the burn had left when his hands did.

 

“Yeah, basically,” Ajay replied in a rough voice, then cleared his throat. “No holds barred.” He stepped back further, gesturing for Kevin to take his place. “You try.”

 

Distracted, Grace tracked Ajay’s retreat from the stage back to his desk. She barely felt Kevin pull her in until her brain registered his proximity. She noted that he still looked uneasy. She took one last glance at Ajay, looking equally uncomfortable, then turned back to Kevin.

 

“You okay?” she whispered.

 

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just… I know it’s hard to believe, but I’ve never danced with a girl before. Not this close, even in a show; the intimacy was a little intimidating for a second, but I think I’ve got it now.”

 

She gave him a half-smile, Ajay’s vulnerable expression as he gazed down at her still in the back of her mind. 

 

“Good,” she replied, half to Kevin and half to herself.

 

He chuckled. 

 

Grace relaxed a little bit into the hold, forcing the heart-pounding breath-hitching issue away for a more convenient moment. 

 

“You can restart whenever you’re ready,” Ajay called from the house. Grace took a deep breath, tucked those emotions away for the moment, then started to sing again.

 

Over the next three hours, they worked through the scenes. Grace found herself incredibly distracted, her eyes catching a glare from Ajay’s glasses, watching him rub his neck, putting all of her energy into not letting the dam where she was holding those feelings break. They built and built and built until she wasn’t quite sure she could contain them—and then he dismissed her to go find Rosa and rehearse their song.

 

She tried to keep a steady pace until she got backstage, then she burst into a run, just trying to quell the fire that had just been lit in her chest. She found the music room and unceremoniously burst in, interrupting a particularly soulful note of Rosa’s.

 

She apologized, passed off her heavy breathing as a by-product of the running, and locked eyes with Rosa to convey that they needed to talk later. They ran through “You Love Who You Love” together, and Grace involuntarily found new meaning in the lyrics. 

 

When rehearsal was finally over, Grace and Rosa walked back to the subway station. Grace was only half-listening to what Rosa was saying—it was something about how their voices worked well together—and it showed. Several times Rosa stopped talking in the middle of what she was saying because she knew Grace wasn’t listening. They spent the trip home in silence, until they got to Grace’s building. Rosa stopped them abruptly just outside and pulled Grace over to the side of the building.

 

“What’s going on, Grace?”

 

Grace just shook her head.

 

Rosa crossed her arms, waiting for a response. Once it became clear that she wasn’t leaving without one, Grace caved.

 

“I– listen, I’ll tell you if you come up to the apartment. I don’t want to talk about it here.”

 

“Okay,” Rosa relented. Grace led the way into the building, climbing the three flights of stairs before unlocking the door to number 306.

 

Mayleen sat at the table with a book and a mug of tea, Isra curled up on her lap. She looked up when the two walked in.

 

“Rosa!” she exclaimed, before she took in their expressions. “What’s up?” She closed the book and gestured for the two to come sit at the table.

 

Rosa took the opportunity to grab Grace’s hand, and was relieved when she didn’t make any move to pull away. Grace wrapped her fingers tightly around Rosa’s, steeling herself for what she was about to confess.

 

“I…” she started, hesitating. “Mayleen, you know how we talked about how I fall in love too easily?”

 

“Yeah, I remember that. I said you had a big heart.”

 

“Yeah. Well, I think I… have feelings for someone.”

 

“I mean, it’s about time,” Mayleen reasoned. “It’s been almost half a year since you broke up with Brooke, and–”

 

“That’s just the thing, though! I don’t know if I’m just feeling this way because he’s the first person to flirt with me since then, and… I don’t know. I guess I’m just nervous about being that vulnerable to someone again.”

 

“Oh, honey…” Mayleen scooted closer to wrap her into a hug. “Whoever this guy is, he’s definitely not the only person to hit on you or even to ask you out. I clearly remember you telling me about five or six regulars at the pub.”

 

“Okay, but that wasn’t…” Grace waved her hands around aimlessly. “It wasn’t… real! I know I fall in love quickly, so I’m not surprised. But how intense my feelings were… it’s scaring me. I just don’t want to get hurt again.”

 

“Well, who says you will?” asked Rosa, finally having enough information to join the conversation. “It’s all a risk, but if he was flirting with you then he obviously likes you too.”

 

“I mean, it already didn’t work out between us once. That’s not a really good sign,” Grace huffed, pulling her hand out of Rosa’s to cover her face.

 

Mayleen startled. “Are you talking about your director? Ajay? The one who you dated in high school?”

 

“I–” Grace considered lying for a second, then ultimately decided against it. “...yes. Ever since rehearsal last Friday, I’ve been feeling something growing between us. I just didn’t want to see it. But today I guess I just figured it out, that this whole time I’ve been falling for him again.”

 

Rosa sat back in her chair. “I was wondering about that, when I saw y’all laughing when we were all in the props closet. You two just seemed so much more comfortable with each other.”

 

Mayleen hummed. “And is it such a bad thing? To be falling for him again? I mean, your relationship probably didn’t work out in high school because neither of you were mature enough. You’ve both changed as people, and maybe you could try again.”

 

Grace let out a huff of air. “But he’s my director!” Isra, having jumped off of Mayleen’s lap, climbed onto Grace’s and headbutted her free hand. Grace threaded her fingers through Isra's thick gray fur.

 

“So?” asked Rosa. “Ask him out closing night, if you’re that worried about it.”

 

“But I…” Grace started, “I’m not sure if I can do it. I mean, after Brooke, I guess… I’m not the girl he fell in love with in high school. I’m different in so many ways, and I don’t know if he’ll be able to love who I am now,” she admitted, tears forming in her eyes.

 

“Hey, hey, hey. I don’t think he still thinks you’re the same person. And anyways, he’s not the guy you dated in high school anymore. If you can fall for him being the person he is now, who’s to say he can’t do the same?” Rosa said.

 

A single tear spilled over Grace’s cheek.

 

“I’m just… afraid. Terrified.”

 

“I know, honey,” Mayleen said, rubbing Grace’s back, “But you have to push past that fear somehow. And I really think that it would be healthy to let yourself fall for someone again.”

 

“And hey, even on the off chance that it doesn’t work out, you can still say that you got past a fear. And both me and Mayleen will be there for you no matter what. It won’t be like with Brooke.” said Rosa.

 

Grace sniffed, but hesitantly smiled. She started to scratch behind Isra’s ears, and the cat started purring.

 

“It won’t?”

 

“Very low probability. People as toxic as that are few and far between. Or at least I hope they are,” Mayleen said. “But absolute worst case scenario: you learn and you grow, and this time you’re supported by friends who would walk to the ends of the earth for you. We both promise you that.”

 

Grace shook her head, but her smile was growing. She wiped her cheeks and let out a nervous laugh. Isra meowed in protest that nobody was rubbing her ears, then jumped off Grace’s lap to weave around Rosa’s legs.

 

“Oh my god, I’m gonna do it. I’ll find some time closing night to talk to him. Oh my god, I’m actually nervous now!” Grace burst out laughing, out of equal parts nervousness and happiness.

 

Both Mayleen and Rosa joined in laughing, relieved that the problem had been worked through– at least for now.

 


	8. Part 8

Wednesday, during the fourth week of rehearsals, Ajay leaned back into his chair. His new non-crappy wireless speakers—courtesy of Lysander, whose day job was at a Best Buy—played “Raise A Little Hell (Reprise)” as Kevin and Elijah leapt out of the car that had just been built, brandishing prop guns and sneaking stage right.

 

_ “Why do folks want to be heroes? Why do they love standin’ tall? Why don’t they just hand it over? Ain’t their money after all.” Clyde sang, a delirious grin on his face. The two paused just before exiting stage right. _

 

_ “We won’t get to heaven, so let’s raise a little hell,” Clyde and Buck sang together, laughing almost maniacally. _ Kevin motioned to Elijah and they both exited, and Ajay knew that was where the set would roll down in front of the car to make way for a new location.

 

Andrew and a group of people walked in, gathering around a table downstage left. Ajay had noted in his script that the lights would change to make the set look like the inside of a room, rather than the previous scene where it was outside at night.

 

_ A man all the way at the right end of the table, Deputy Johnson, started speaking. _

 

_ “Missouri police report that two couples matchin’ the description of the Barrow Gang have been livin’ at 1521 Joplin Street for the past three weeks. And get this, when the garage door was open, one neighbor reported seein’ what she describes as ‘a box of guns.’” _

 

_ A severe-looking man by his side, the Sheriff, looked down at the report on the table.  _

 

_ “If we drive through the night we can be in Joplin midday tomorrow,” he said, adjusting his glasses. _

 

_ “We don’t have jurisdiction in Missouri!” Ted pointed out. _

 

_ “I don’t give a crap about jurisdiction!” yelled the Sheriff. “I was hired to do a job! Now let’s go get ‘em.” He and everyone but Ted walked off stage left. _

 

_ Ted rolled up his sleeves and leaned heavily on the table full of evidence and maps and reports, exhaustion showing in every line of his face. _

 

***

 

Saturday that week Kevin was onstage again, this time accompanied by Grace. They were on a part of the set designed to look like a small bedroom, Grace perched on the bed.

 

_ “He had his gun right on me,” Clyde recounted brokenly.  _

 

_ “What happened, Clyde?” Bonnie trembled, afraid to know the answer. _

 

_ “I had no time...”  _

 

_ “What happened?” she pressed, but when he looked at her she realized. _

 

_ “No… no…” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears and her hand moving back to grab the edge of the blanket on the bed, as if it would steady her. _

 

_ “It was him or me, sugar,” Clyde tried to explain, but Bonnie put a hand up to stop him. _

 

_ “I can’t stay.” she said with a note of finality, standing up from the bed and walking to the other side. She pulled a suitcase out and put it down on the bed, then rifled through a set of drawers to start packing her things.  _

 

Ajay barely recognized that as his cue to start the music for “Too Late To Turn Back Now,” tearing his gaze away from Grace.

 

_ “Bonnie,” Clyde pleaded. _

 

_ “I gotta get out now while I still can, while I’m still in the clear!”  _ she belted, catching Ajay off guard but bringing a smile to his face all the same.

 

_ “Bonnie!” Clyde shouted, desperation coloring his voice. _

 

_ “The dream is done, it’s over now, gotta get me outta here.” she continued, moving around to access the nightstand. Clyde caught her by the waist to stop her, but she elbowed him in the stomach, forcing him to release her. _

 

***

 

Monday of week five saw Rosa centerstage, singing to Elijah. Ajay had planned some special effects for this scene, including a spotlight to focus on her and leave Elijah in half-light. A lullaby-like tune was playing from Ajay’s speakers.

 

_ “But baby, you and me could—” started Buck, but Blanche cut him off. _

 

_ “No ideas and no big plans, happy with the way things are. No one with a scam or scheme, now that’s what you call a dream,” she sang wistfully.  _

 

_ “These dreams of yours make no sense at all, it’s what’s inside not what’s out there. We both could have a perfect life and not go anywhere.” _

 

She cupped his cheek with a hand, then turned away and moved further downstage. 

 

“Look up, pretend you’re appealing to God,” Ajay instructed, and without even a glance to acknowledge that she had heard him, Rosa trained her eyes on the booth up at the back of the house, right where the spotlight would be coming from.

 

“A little to the left, the spotlight beam will be right there,” Ajay called. Rosa shifted her gaze, and with just that small difference the action looked more authentic. Ajay scribbled in his script to have the spotlight fade at the end of the song and to have the lights come up, returning her back to reality.

 

“ _ Children playin’ in the barn, Buck is rockin’ in his chair. In the house the candles gleam, now that’s what you call a dream. _ ”

 

Right where Ajay wanted the spotlight to fade, Rosa turned again on her heel and returned to where Elijah was standing. She took his hands.

 

“ _ In the house the candles gleam, now that’s what you call a dream, _ ” she finished, and gently kissed Elijah. When she pulled away, Ajay stopped the music. Elijah turned to him.

 

“I can really feel this whole thing coming together, Ajay,” he remarked.

 

“Yeah,” Ajay said, smiling softly. “Me too.”

 

A whoop sounded from backstage, startling all of them. Grace jogged out onto the stage and wrapped Rosa in a bear hug.

 

“You were so good!” she exclaimed. Ajay rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop a fond smile from forming on his face. He had always thought it was adorable when she was so enthusiastically supportive of her friends and co-stars. After a good minute of the hugging, though, Ajay forced himself to move the scene forward.

 

“Alright, alright. Let’s go on, there actually is more to this scene than Rosa’s power ballad.”

 

The cast laughed and Grace gave him a golden smile. He regarded her reverently, his heart pounding at the beauty of her expression. He wanted to stay in that warm private moment forever, but too soon she broke eye contact and walked offstage to let the scene continue.

 

***

 

Before rehearsal on Thursday of that week, Annette called Ajay to set up a meeting. She wanted updates on how the production was going, and had also called Grace, Kevin, Emily, and the tech crew heads to the meeting.

 

During rehearsal that Friday, Ajay noticed that Grace was distracted the entire time. He tried to work scenes that she wasn’t in to give her a bit of a break, but by the end of the week there weren’t many left. 

 

The next week would be dedicated to cleaning up transitions and entrances before the added chaos of tech runs. Both tech week and the three days the week after that were dedicated to dress rehearsals were full twelve-hour days. Ajay had already been tearing out his hair planning the union-mandated two hour-long breaks for each actor and for the technicians throughout tech week. He’d settled on a common lunch hour and then staggered breaks while rehearsing scenes that didn't involve that actor. He was having particular difficulty even finding thirty-minute breaks for Kevin and Grace, though, because either one or both of them were in nearly every scene.

 

After rehearsal concluded, Ajay and Emily set out chairs around a table onstage for everyone. The crew chiefs came down from the booth and from backstage, and Kevin emerged from his dressing room in a professional-looking outfit, bag in hand. The only ones missing were Annette and Grace, and the former wasn’t due to arrive for five more minutes.

 

At the five minute mark, Ajay had almost left his seat to go check on Grace, but she walked hurriedly through the wings and to the seat designated for her next to Kevin. She was still wearing her dance clothes, and her eyes were a little red and her cheeks a little wet. Just as Annette came in, Ajay raised his eyebrows at her, concerned, but she shook her head.

 

She walked through the house, climbed the stairs onto the stage, and took her place at the head of the table. Ajay tore his eyes away from Grace and greeted Annette. 

 

The meeting went by pretty smoothly; everyone reported that things were going well, that they were on-schedule to start tech the Monday after next, that the show was coming together cohesively. 

 

More than a few times, Ajay’s eyes were drawn to Grace, and not for the usual reasons. The entire meeting, she seemed distracted at best, outright absent at worst. He even caught her scrolling through her phone held under the table, which was very uncharacteristic of the actress who arrived first to every rehearsal and cheered the cast on during every scene.

 

“Alright, guys! This looks great, I think we’ll really have a good, successful production here. I’ll be here for final dress, and I can’t wait to see it!” Annette concluded at the end of the meeting, standing back up. Ajay stood up too and shook her hand.

 

“I’m really proud of you, Ajay. You were just thrown into this production in the middle of everything, and you’ve worked so hard to make up for that. Thank you.”

 

Ajay ducked his head,“Oh, thank you, but I really can’t take the credit. Everything that’s happened I owe to the awesome teamwork of the cast and crew.”

 

Annette smiled and bid him goodnight. After making rounds to say goodbye to everyone from the meeting, Grace caught his eye from the upstage right corner. He walked over and found her tenser than he’d ever seen her before, and he was alarmed to find tears in her eyes.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked gently, not wanting to scare her off.

 

She just shook her head again, causing a tear to roll down her cheek. She turned to go, but Ajay reached out at the last second and put a hand on her shoulder. Neither of them knew, for a second, if she was going to shrug him off—but she didn’t. Her shoulders started shaking.

 

“Oh, Grace,” Ajay said, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come here, I know somewhere we can talk.”

 

Resigned, she followed him up two flights of stairs and a ladder on the side wall of the wings, to a balcony that gave access to the fly system. Ajay noted with satisfaction that the completed scrim, all ready for tech rehearsals, had been hung to a beam that would be lowered onto the stage. He sat on the balcony and patted the ground next to him for her to sit. He offered a hand for her to hold, but she didn’t take it. She stared out at the fly system, taking everything in and calculating her words. He knew the look in her eyes well enough to know exactly what she was doing. 

 

“I’m sorry…” she started, her voice sounding choked up. “I know I wasn’t really productive in rehearsal today, or at the meeting. It won’t happen again.”

 

That the complete opposite of what Ajay had expected.

 

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Grace. We all have hard days. I just wanted to check in with you, to see if you wanted to talk about whatever was troubling you.”

 

She let out a long breath, then sniffed. She wiped at her cheeks again, then stared at her hands. After what seemed like hours of them sitting side-by-side in silence, she started to talk.

 

“In my last year of college, I was in a relationship with this girl for over a year. Her name was Brooke. She was also a musical theatre major, and we moved here together after graduation. We broke up about five months ago, but the entire relationship was just really toxic.”

 

She sniffed again.

 

“She would basically use me—like my connections with professors or the auditions I got called to—to further her own career. She basically stepped on me and used me for the entire relationship. But I guess I didn’t know better, so I just let her.”

 

She paused and Ajay found a moment to jump in.

 

“I can empathize with that. One of my exes used me to get into screenwriting, of all things.”

 

Grace snorted, but it was a weak attempt. She cleared her throat, then continued.

 

“Anyways, we broke up about five months ago because she wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that I was nothing to her but a step up in the industry. I finally figured out that I deserved better than that, and that’s when I moved in with my current roommate. But I saw her at a store today, and—”

 

She cut herself off with a large sniff and another tear down her cheek.

 

“And she’s engaged. She introduced me to her fiancée. And that really made me think, because we’ve only been broken up for five months, right? So I thought back to all those times that she would come home late or say the marks on her body were mosquito bites or bruises from rehearsal, and she just insisted it was nothing so much that I let myself believe her. But I think she was cheating on me for a lot of our relationship.”

 

Grace stopped again for a second, and Ajay wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into him.

 

“But that’s not the worst part. I was ahead of them in line at the register, and once I had my stuff and was on my way out I heard her fiancée whisper, ‘Wow, you weren’t wrong, I really am an upgrade.’ And then they both laughed. And I can’t stop replaying that moment in my head.”

 

Ajay felt his heart break for her. He couldn’t imagine what that must feel like, to have a months-old pain dragged up again in public, especially regarding something as tender as that. 

 

“I’m so sorry, Grace,” was all he could say, but it seemed to be enough. She rested her hand over his, the one he had offered her earlier, and turned to face him.

 

“Thank you,” she said, still choked up. Her eyes were watery. Ajay leaned over to pull her into a tight hug, rubbing her back in the same way he remembered that she liked it.

 

“You deserve so, so much better than that,” he whispered in her ear, “and if I ever find her, I’m going to kick her ass.”

 

Grace laughed weakly, and it was like music to his ears. He pulled back and gave her a soft smile, but her expression turned serious again.

 

“It’s just that... between that happening and the way our relationship ended back in high school…”

 

She trailed off, awkwardness flying up between them like a wall. He released her hand almost too quickly, and his throat went dry.

 

“I, uh…” he mumbled, not sure what to say. They sat in an extremely awkward silence for a few seconds, but before the seconds turned into minutes she started talking.

 

“I’m sorry to bring that up again, but I think we probably should talk about it,” she said tentatively.

 

“Yeah, but I mean what’s there really to talk about? We were together for a long time, and it was really great, but we did what we had to do. I don’t think we were mature enough then to handle long-distance, and I think we both needed to be our own people in college.”

 

Grace smiled a little at that.

 

“Yeah, I think so too. And objectively I know it was the right call, it’s just,” she paused. “Whenever my mind gets all shaky and dark, I kind of just lump that in with all the reasons I’m not good enough. Because I let something great just slip out of my fingers like that.”

 

Ajay furrowed his brows. “Not good enough? Not good enough for what?”

 

“I don’t know, everything?” She threw her hands in the air. “It’s something my mind says when I get really depressed. I know how to manage it. I just needed to reconcile it with you, to find closure and all that.”

 

“Oh.” A beat passed, and then another. “Well, for what it’s worth, I probably spent way too long dwelling on our breakup, too. But we’re not the same people we were then, and it doesn’t make sense to regret anything. I’m only sorry that I didn’t try to reach out to you, to build our friendship back up.” He measured his words, careful not to let on about his feelings for her.

 

“Yeah. But I guess we get another chance to do that, from doing this show together. And I’m really glad we managed to find each other again, Ajay.”

 

“Yeah, me too.”

 

He startled when he felt her fingers thread between his again, but tried not to let his happiness at the gesture show. He turned back to her with a smile. 

 

“And hey,” he said, squeezing her hand, “You are good enough. You are  _ definitely _ good enough, and don’t let your mind ever tell you anything else.”

 

A smile slowly spread across her face and the moment slowly turned golden again but, just like the last time, it ended too quickly. An alert sounded on Grace’s phone.

 

“Oh, I need to go to catch the subway back to my apartment.” She got up suddenly, and Ajay immediately missed the warmth of her hand on his. He stood up too, and pulled her into another quick hug.

 

“Oh,” she said in surprise. When he pulled away, she grabbed his hand.

 

“Thanks, Ajay. I think I needed this—to talk this out—more than I thought.”

 

“You’re welcome,” he smiled at her. “Anytime.”

 

Ajay followed her down the ladder and the two flights of stairs to the stage level, then waved her off to go get her things.

 

As he walked to his station, he reflected on the conversation. He hated seeing her so upset, but he couldn’t deny that she seemed to have emotionally matured over the years. Seven or eight years ago, she wouldn’t have talked to him about that. He was glad that she was clearly handling things better.

 

At the same time, though, seeing her so broken had broken him down a little, too. As an empathetic person that was to be expected, but Ajay hadn’t anticipated the severity of the problem. He used it to mark off another tally on the “reasons not to ask her out” side of his mental chart. She clearly was dealing with a rough breakup that was still affecting her after all this time, and he didn’t know if she would want to date anyone, much less him due to their history together.

 

He ran through his chart again on the long ride home.

 

_ Reasons not to try again: _

 

  * __It already didn’t work out once__


  * _We work in the same industry, which could potentially be a problem_


  * _She could, against all odds, turn out to be like Isabella_


  * _She might not even feel the same way about me_


  * _She has issues with an old relationship_



 

 

But, like a mature and responsible adult, Ajay forced himself to go through the other side of the chart as well.

 

_ Reasons to try again: _

 

  * __She’s like sunshine if it were a person, like the eye of a hurricane. A complete mess, the clumsiest person I’ve ever met, but also the most passionate, the most sweet.__



 

 

And that, Ajay figured, was reason enough. He’d say something, and soon. Nothing grandiose, just asking if she’d like to get coffee. To try again after the show, maybe.

 

He pressed his lips together to keep from grinning, and had to keep them that way for the rest of his trip home.


	9. Part 9

The sixth week of rehearsal was almost a complete disaster.

 

During “How ‘Bout A Dance” on Monday, Kevin tripped over his shoelaces and fell flat on his face. He was lucky to not break his nose, but he definitely ruined the mood.

 

Rosa caught a 24-hour stomach bug on the Tuesday of the sitzprobe, but insisted on coming in to rehearse. She had to run offstage halfway through “That’s What You Call A Dream.” Half the cast caught the bug, and Wednesday’s wander probe had to be canceled.

 

Andrew and Elijah broke out into a shouting match over whose pants were whose after rehearsal Thursday, leaving them both hoarse on Friday. On the bright side, they were able to represent the animosity between their characters like never before.

 

On Friday, Grace made her mistake. During “You Love Who You Love,” she leaned too heavily against a set piece and caused it to collapse. The set piece was strong so it survived, but she did have to endure several (well-earned) angry looks from the construction crew head.

 

She only remembered one thing from the incident, however. Not the angry looks, not the fear when she was falling, but the look on Ajay’s face when he jumped up onstage at a supersonic speed to help her up and check if she was okay. He looked  _ terrified _ , but then very relieved when he saw she was okay. And that was doing… things to Grace’s emotional state, so much so that she spent the rest of rehearsal half flirting with Kevin-as-Clyde and half casting glances over at Ajay’s desk to see if he had noticed.

 

She concluded from the look in his eyes—a little jealousy, a little desire, and a little something more—that he definitely had noticed.

 

To add to her list of evidence was the fact that during breaks and before and after rehearsal, he didn’t seem willing to leave her sight. He’d made up a bad excuse on Thursday about wanting to eat a snack under the heating vent that was her eminent domain because he was cold. They both sat under the vent, so close their arms were pressed together, for ten full minutes. 

 

Furthermore, more than a few times she would look over at him to see him turn his head quickly away, a pink tint covering his cheeks. And his eyes lingered on her whenever she was onstage, almost at risk of ignoring the main action.

 

Logic told her that this was a bad idea. He was her director for one, and her ex for another. Her head tried to remind her of all the reasons they had broken up in the first place, and all the little things about him that had bothered her, and everything that still did.

 

But her heart told her that every time he looked at her, her entire body went up in flames. Her heart drew her towards him magnetically whenever she had a break. Her heart warned her not to flirt too much with Kevin-as-Clyde for fear that Ajay might assume she wasn’t interested.

 

All things considered, it was a war between logic and passion. It needed to end, and soon. Her attraction was growing day by day, interfering with her focus and, though she hated to admit it, hindering her performance. So, during rehearsal on the Saturday right before tech week started, she resolved to fix it by talking to him.

 

Over the years and throughout a few failed relationships, Grace had learned that honesty was almost always the best policy. Maybe not complete honesty, but she knew that it was easier to talk things through and reach a compromise once everything was out in the open. And that’s what she wanted: a compromise between her head and her heart. Hopefully a compromise that left her less easily distracted by the way he ran his hand through his hair, or by his self-satisfied smile whenever a scene went well.

 

Yes, she’d tell Ajay how she felt. After rehearsal, once she’d have changed into non-sweaty clothes and put on some fresh deodorant, she’d go find him and ask him to talk. The idea filled her with nervousness, but she knew it had to be done.

 

So Saturday passed in a blaze of barely-there flirtation, breathless eye contact, and a hand graze as she was walking past him that nearly made her heart jump out of her chest. Until finally the long day was over and she was back in her dressing room, changing and freshening up as quickly as possible so that she could catch him before he left.

 

But he beat her to it, and just as she was unbraiding her hair he knocked lightly on the door of her dressing room.

 

“Grace? Are you dressed?”

 

_ I’d still let you in even if I wasn’t, _ she thought, then shook her head. “Yeah,” she called. “Come in.”

 

He stepped in the room awkwardly, his face a little red and his hands shoved in his pants pockets. He didn’t quite meet her eyes.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hey?” she said back, a little confused. He rolled his eyes fondly and took a deep breath. 

 

“I wanted to ask if I could talk to you? Alone?”

 

Her heart skipped a beat.

 

“Uh, yeah, what is it?”

 

He shook his head. “Not here. There’s a diner up the street a bit. We could get dinner. Um. If you want?”

 

She searched his face, trying to gauge his intentions behind this. He was doing an impressive job of keeping his expression neutral, but she saw the badly-masked anxiety in his eyes. Her heart filled with hope, a smile involuntarily spreading across her face. This seemed like the perfect chance to tell him how she felt.

 

“Yeah, sure! Let me finish up here, then I’ll meet you in the lobby?”

 

He let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her, a little more relaxed.

 

“Yeah. Take your time.”

 

Grace decidedly didn’t take her time, finishing unbraiding her hair ( _ Had it really been all lopsided and half-undone that whole time he was here? Crap. _ ) as quickly as possible and brushing it out so it didn’t look too unkempt. She grabbed her bag and all but ran out of the dressing room, almost forgetting to close the door in her haste. She met up with him in the lobby, walking up to him while he was cleaning his glasses on the sleeve of his blazer.

 

Ajay held the door open for her and they stepped onto the street, both squinting into the bright sun for a few moments. It was a little past five and the streets were starting to get a little crowded for the early dinner rush.

 

He guided them through the streets, turning a corner at the end of the block and indicating a small, cute-looking diner on the opposite side of the road. Once they got to the diner, sat down, stared at the menus and finally ordered something, Ajay finally looked right at Grace.

 

“So. I wanted to, um. Talk to you about something,” he started, a small tremor in his voice betraying his nervousness. His hand, resting on the table, shook a little bit. Grace had only seen him this nervous once before, and concluded that only one thing could be making him that nervous. She put her hand on top of his and he flipped his hand to lace their fingers together. His breathing seemed to ease a little bit at that, but he still looked unsure. She squeezed his hand and gave him a knowing smile.

 

“Let me do it this time?”

 

He hesitated for a second, looking like he was about to protest– but then he nodded, clearly relieved, signaling for her to take the lead.

 

She hadn’t quite planned out how to say this, hoping that the right words would come to her as she spoke. Now that she was here, looking at him and trying to remember how to breathe, she realized that that was a terrible strategy. She wanted to go back in time and kick her own ass for that stupid decision. But it didn't matter. She’d made her choice, and this was the consequence.

 

“Um,” she said inelegantly, and Ajay started laughing. 

 

“Hey! You couldn’t do it either!” she argued, but fell in with his laughter too. The tension between them dissipated all at once.

 

“Fair enough,” he said, calming down slightly. “Well, go on. I think we both know what’s going on here, but one of us has to say it and you said you would, so it’s your problem now.” He smirked at her, eyes sparkling.

 

“Fine,” she huffed, pretending to be exasperated. She started again.

 

“Ajay,” she said more quietly, more seriously, “I don’t know when it happened, probably about a week ago, but it came to my attention that I probably have feelings for you.”

 

He raised his eyebrows, but a small smile spread across his face at her words. “It came to your attention? What are you, an HR representative coming to reprimand me?”

 

“Let me live! I’m so nervous!” she protested, threatening to let go of his hand with a smile. He just held on tighter. She rolled her eyes and started again.

 

“I like you, you dork! And I’m pretty sure you like me back. And I want us to be together. It would have to be after the show ended, though, because I don’t think it’s professional for a director and an actor to start dating in the middle of a show? Wait, that’s assuming you also wanted to date. You might not. God, I probably should’ve started by asking you that–”

 

He cut her rambling off by squeezing her hand.

 

“Grace. Yes,  _ yes _ I want to be with you. Don’t freak out, I thought I was making it pretty obvious. And I also think we should wait until after the show ends.” He ran his thumb in circles over the back of her hand.

 

“Oh.” Her eyes went wide.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Well,” she started, not knowing what to say.

 

He just looked at her, his eyes roving all over her face like he was trying to take in every detail of her appearance. His expression went impossibly soft, and his smile was just as sweet. She had never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in her entire life, and she was about to throw caution to the wind and just go for it when the waitress laid their plates on the table, effectively pushing her back into reality. She reluctantly let go of his hand to start eating.

 

After a minute or so, Ajay started talking again.

 

“So it might suck, but I think it might actually be good for us to have to wait the five weeks between now and the end of the show’s run.”

 

“Yeah? How come?”

 

“Well I mean, I know we’ve both had problems with relationships, especially ones that got too serious too fast. I think it’ll be good for us to have to wait, because then we can really prove to ourselves that this is something worth waiting for.”

 

“Hmm, I like the way you think!” Grace smiled at him. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to keep my hands off you for five weeks.”

 

“Nor do I,” Ajay admitted, a little smirk on his face. “But I’m confident we’ll make it through. And then we can be a power couple, like the good old days.”

 

“Aw, that’s sweet. Oh, that reminds me, I was thinking the other day about why our relationship didn’t work out back then, to try and see what we should avoid this time around.”

 

“I mean, it was because I moved three thousand miles away, wasn’t it?” He furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“Well, that was most of it. We also didn’t really have the best communication,” Grace said quietly, afraid of offending him. “Like we talked about the other day.”

 

“That’s fair.” He shrugged. “We just weren’t mature enough.”

 

“That’s exactly what I thought. So can we try and do better about that this time?”

 

“Definitely,” he said with a smile.

 

The two finished their dinner and split the bill, at Grace’s insistence. They stepped outside the restaurant, taking in the pale beginnings of the sunset. 

 

A current of wind Grace’s hair in front of her face, and Ajay turned to her and pushed it back behind her ears. Then, he swept Grace into his arms and softly pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was short and sweet and almost over by the time Grace registered what was going on, but it made her heart stop all the same. It felt like a promise, and it felt a little like their first kiss all over again.

 

“Five weeks. Thirty five days. I’ll be counting every second,” Ajay said with a smile.

 

“Oh, me too. You don’t even know.”

 

Ajay took her hand and lifted it to his lips, softly kissing the back. He dropped it and started off in the other direction, while she stood stock-still outside the restaurant and watched the sun go down behind the buildings.

 

Once she finally remembered how to use her legs, she made the forty-five minute journey back to her apartment. She couldn’t quite keep a smile off her face the entire time, and she turned red as soon as she opened the door to her apartment and Mayleen took in her expression, eyes going wide.

 

“Oh my god, tell me everything!” Mayleen squealed, pulling them both down onto the couch. Grace set her bag down on the floor. She told Mayleen everything about the flirting between them all week, how he had showed up at her dressing room, and about the kiss that simultaneously made her melt into a puddle and burn into ashes. Grace couldn’t quite wipe the smile off her face, still remembering how his lips had felt against hers, lingering in that half-second. When she returned to reality, she noticed Mayleen looked more than a little wistful.

 

“You okay?” Grace nudged her.

 

“Yeah, I just… all this is making me think about, well… Rosa,” Mayleen admitted, face quickly reddening.

 

“Awwwwww!” Grace cooed. “Are you gonna ask her out?”

 

“Do you think I should?”

 

“Um,  _ yes _ ?!” Grace nearly shouted. “You guys would be so good together!”

 

“You think? And it’s not, like weird? Because she’s your friend, and…” Mayleen trailed off. 

 

Grace rolled her eyes. “Yes, I do think you’d be good together. And no, of course it’s not weird! Honestly, it’s an excuse to have her over more often,” she joked. “But seriously, though. Ask her to get dinner or coffee or something, maybe tomorrow? It’s the calm before the storm that is tech week.”

 

“Ugh, fine! I’ll call her right now.”

 

Mayleen retreated to her room, grinning widely, but Grace stayed on the couch for a bit. Despite being exhausted from rehearsal, she felt completely warm and content inside. 


	10. Part 10

Tech week. Hell week. The week that made even the most experienced directors, actors and technicians tremble in fear. Ajay hadn’t gotten much sleep (any sleep, if he was being completely honest with himself) the previous night, so on Monday morning he was already running on fumes. He had a tumbler (that really more closely resembled a bucket) full of coffee, and it wasn’t even his first of the day when he got to the theatre at eight am.

 

His only saving grace was Emily, the stage manager who was criminally peppy for a Monday morning. She didn’t have to start calling cues from the booth yet, so she was at the table in the house with him to discuss lighting and sound options. He stifled a giant yawn behind his hand as he waited for everyone to arrive.

 

“Ajay,” Emily said suddenly, nearly making him jump.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I have a crazy story for you.”

 

This had become kind of a thing, with him and Emily exchanging bizarre stories while they waited for the actors and techs to set up. There was little else for them to do, and Emily’s latest story about her dog chasing her cat around with a laser pointer had had him in stitches during the previous rehearsal, so he wasn’t complaining.

 

She was just about to start talking when one of the junior lighting techs walked up, a slightly guilty look on his face. Emily saw him out of the corner of her eye, and before he could even say anything she sighed.

 

“Sorry, Ajay, I’ll tell you in a second.” Then she followed the tech up to the booth.

 

Left alone again, Ajay took out his phone and looked through last night’s text conversation with Grace. He smiled to himself as he scrolled through the memes she sent and his increasingly exasperated replies, the link she’d sent him to a song she claimed reminded her of him (and maybe he’d listened to it all night, but nobody had to know), and a litany of cheesy pickup lines that he’d insisted were the worst things he’d ever heard. His favorite conversation, though, was one that they had at three a.m. He hadn’t ever gone to sleep that night but she’d evidently woken up in the middle of the night and texted him.

 

**Grace:** hey, so for when we’re together in like five weeks you should probably know that i’m allergic to daisies 

 

**Ajay:** I’ll keep that in mind. So what are your favorite flowers, now that daisies have lost their position at the top?

 

**Grace:** hmmm… why do you wanna know?

 

**Ajay:** No reason. 

 

**Ajay:** Not like I’m planning something or anything. 

 

**Ajay:** Not at all. 

 

**Ajay:** Just want to know. Random trivia.

 

**Grace:** you’re a terrible liar

 

**Ajay:** But you knew that already. So, favorite flowers?

 

**Grace:** lilacs

 

**Ajay:** Classy. I’m more of a blue hyacinth guy.

 

**Grace:** i don’t even know what that is 

 

**Grace:** oh also. there’s a new restaurant near my apt that we should go to sometime

 

**Ajay:** Five weeks!

 

**Grace:** five weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

**Ajay:** Get some sleep. You need to be functional in the morning.

 

**Grace:** i could say the same to you

 

**Ajay:** Goodnight, Grace.

 

**Grace:** ugh goodnight

 

Something about that little exchange never failed to make him smile. Maybe it was the fact that she’d been thinking of him when she woke up in the middle of the night, or maybe it was just that she felt comfortable enough with him to text him in the early morning, when they both should’ve been asleep. Maybe it was because her telling him about her favorite flowers made this whole thing much more concrete.

 

He was jolted out of his thoughts by Emily sitting down next to him again.

 

“So, you had a story?”

 

“Oh, I have the  _ best _ story.”

 

For the next five minutes while actors and techs slowly made their way into the theatre, she regaled him with the story of her girlfriend's nearly disastrous attempt at a proposal, which involved the aforementioned pet dog nearly eating the engagement ring, the fire alarm going off after a failed attempt at a romantic dinner, and an ugly encounter with a bitter neighbor who had been trying to take a nap at the time of the fire alarm.

 

Ajay didn't think he'd ever laughed so hard in his life.

 

"But did you say yes, though?"

 

"Duh, of course! How could I not marry a woman who went through all that just for me?”

 

“That’s adorable,” he said a little too loudly, still laughing. He calmed himself down significantly before saying, “I wish you the best. That’s really exciting.” He gave her a sincere smile.

 

“Thanks, Ajay!”

 

He turned slightly to give her a quick congratulatory hug, then sat back in his seat to survey the nearly completed scenery.

 

It was really admirable, all the work the techs had done to get the set ready. The scrim was especially good, and it looked even better in the stage lights. The props had all been set out and looked lovely. He was starting to sketch out a few transitions off the top of his head when a group of actors walked past him. Among them, Grace.

 

She looked ethereal as always, but the thing about her that most distracted him as she walked past was the stony expression on her face and her refusal to look at him. He was bewildered, and convinced himself that he must’ve just been seeing things. He shook his head and returned to his work. By the time 8:45 am came around, the cast and crew were all gathered onstage.

 

“Okay! Good morning everyone!” Ajay called, standing up. He noted that Grace still wasn’t looking at him, but let it go. There were more important things to worry about right then. He cordoned off a section of his mind to worry about her in the background and turned his thoughts back to the day ahead.

 

He quickly delegated, working up the schedule of run-throughs on the fly and making sure Emily told him when to move on from different scenes to keep them on schedule. For some reason, he felt Grace’s eyes on him whenever he turned to talk to Emily. As soon as he looked around at the group of actors again, though, Grace’s gaze moved away from him. It was unsettling, and Ajay didn’t like it at all. He resolved that he’d try to get to the bottom of this during the lunch break.

 

“Anyways,” he said, pulling himself off whatever tangent about transitions that he had been on, “Let’s set up for the prologue.”

 

At his words, the cast and crew dispersed. Several cast members retreated to the house to watch and work on lines, and the rest save for Grace, Kevin, Kaylie and Jackson retreated backstage to prepare for their entrances. Grace smiled at Kevin—Ajay’s stomach twisted—as they settled down in the car. She leaned a head on his chest and they clasped hands. Just like Ajay had directed.

 

“Great. Jackson, Kaylie, you ready?”

 

Two confirmations sounded from backstage. Ajay signaled for everyone to start, and after a small delay the lights went down on the stage and the prerecorded track started. They didn’t have the luxury of an orchestra in such a small space, but they had a really good recording. Ajay was a bit nervous about that, but convinced himself that it would be fine. After thirty seconds of the prologue music, a strong riff signaled Kaylie’s intro and the start of “Picture Show.”

 

They made it through the first few bars before the scrim started to roll down too soon, covering Grace and Kevin in the car. It was the first of what felt like a million holds that Ajay had to call before they were done with the complex scene almost three hours later. Everyone was exhausted, Ajay included, but he pressed on into Scene One. Grace was the only lead still onstage.

 

She was behind the bar, leaning on it slightly from the side at the top of the scene. The short and simple scene ran fairly smoothly, but he had to call one hold for lighting and two more for a telephone ring sound effect. The music at the end of the scene started on time, surprising both him and Grace, who forgot to come in at the right time. Even when he stopped the scene and told her to restart from a certain line, she wouldn’t look at him.

 

At a snail’s pace, the rest of the morning passed. By 12:30, everyone was starving and restless. As soon as Ajay dismissed them for lunch, he noticed Grace fleeing to her dressing room. He wanted to follow her, but Emily pulled him aside for a litany of questions surrounding the next few scenes and certain cues. Once ten minutes had passed, he gently reminded her that the ten-hour work day maximum applied to the techs too, and that they all needed to have their well-deserved break.

 

Finally free to slip off, Ajay successfully made his way to Grace’s dressing room undisturbed. The door was cracked slightly open, so he knocked and waited. When he heard no response, he gently pushed the door open a couple of inches.

 

“Grace?”

 

He heard a noncommittal grunt from inside the room, and took that as permission to go in. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. 

 

She was sitting at her vanity in a rolling chair, head in her hands, but her blank expression didn’t betray any of her feelings. He sat down in an old velvet armchair in the opposite corner of the small room to give her a little space.

 

“Grace, what’s wrong? You wouldn’t look at me all rehearsal. Did I do something wrong?”

 

“No, nothing’s wrong.”

 

“Grace.”

 

He waited a few seconds.

 

“Grace, if you won’t tell me what’s wrong then I can’t fix it. Communication, remember?”

 

She groaned into her hands, then turned to face him. “I don’t know how to say this without sounding controlling or manipulative or paranoid.”

 

He relaxed into the chair. At least that was a start.

 

“Just tell me what’s going on, and I promise I’ll understand that you don’t mean to be any of those things.”

 

She sighed, but nodded. “It’s just that, before rehearsal started, Kevin came up to me and asked me if I thought you and Emily were a couple. I said I didn’t, but then he pointed out how you were laughing at something she was saying, and then you hugged her and called her adorable, and I don’t know. I just overthought. I’m sorry.”

 

“No, don’t be sorry. I can see what you were thinking. And I’ll explain what was going on, but only once I tell you one thing that’s really important.”

 

“Okay?”

 

He stretched out a foot and pulled her rolling chair towards where he was seated in the armchair. He took both of her hands, and despite himself he noticed the color flooding her cheeks.

 

“Grace, if this is going to work, you need to trust me.”

 

She tried to interrupt him, but he squeezed one of her hands and she fell silent again. He looked directly into her eyes.

 

“I know that it’s a sore spot, and I know that there’s a little more insecurity because we aren’t really together yet, and I know you’re afraid of being cheated on again. I am too. But if we want this to work, both of us need to trust each other, okay? That means that you don’t get scared when I talk to Emily, and I won’t get jealous when you kiss Kevin onstage. Deal?”

 

She broke eye contact with him and readjusted her hands within his grip.

 

“I didn’t even think about that,” she admitted. 

 

“Well, don’t. Because I trust you, and anyways this show needs a believable romance between the leads.”

 

She let out a self-deprecating laugh, then looked back up at him. “Okay. Yeah. I trust you.”

 

“Good,” he smiled. “Because I really wanted to tell you the story Emily told me.”

 

They passed the rest of the lunch hour in Grace’s dressing room, Ajay making her laugh with Emily’s proposal story and Grace telling him a few stories of her own, including an awkward run-in between Mayleen and the landlord when their shower had broken. Ajay sensed that she was getting more and more relaxed in his presence, that they were slowly but surely making their way back to how it had been. And that gave him hope that their relationship would really work out this time, more than anything that either of them had said or promised.

 

Tech week crawled by like he expected it to: painstakingly and stressfully. There were more than a few places where tension, exhaustion and frustration made things excessively difficult, and Ajay had had to yell at people more often than he’d have liked, but he lived for the lunches in the calmness of Grace’s dressing room. He lived for her bright laugh and all the sunshine in her eyes, and he lived for her light touches and the shy glances they’d share for moments before looking away. 

 

Breaking into dress week, the days got shorter but also more tiring. Grace, looking gorgeous in a burgundy dress and red wig, took every opportunity she could to flick a corner of her skirt in his direction or sway her hips a little more when she knew he was watching her. As much as he hated to admit it, she was very successful in distracting him. More than a couple times, he had to forcibly tear his eyes away from her to refocus on the scene at large.

 

Once, when she was wearing this tiny white slip for a more romantic scene between her and Kevin (he wanted to both kill and profusely thank the costume designer), she noticed his eyes on her and shot him a wink. Ajay, completely caught off guard, had an extremely hard time keeping his thoughts in order. He pulled her behind the set, the only semi-private place he could think of, once rehearsal was over.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hey,” she said, breathless from the singing and dancing, a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

 

“Why the hell would you do that to me?”

 

“Do what?” Her voice was downright coy, he hated it and couldn’t get enough all at the same time.

 

“The thing with the… slip… and the wink…” he tried to say, flustered.

 

“Oh.” She laughed, and it was a glorious sound. “I was messing with you. Looks like it worked.”

 

“Yeah, it worked,” he whispered, voice suddenly husky. He leaned forward, his lips only half an inch from hers, putting his hands on her waist.

 

“So what are you gonna do about it?” she teased, one eyebrow raised.

 

He couldn’t handle it anymore and closed the short distance between them. He swept his tongue lightly along her bottom lip, ignoring the waxy taste of her lipstick. She moaned softly against his mouth, her back arching to draw him in closer. After a few seconds of the pure bliss of having her so close, he finally pulled away from her with a gentle nip.

 

“And that’s just a preview,” he said breathlessly, watching with delight as her cheeks turned pink and her eyes went dark. He got his revenge with a wink of his own and then turned to walk away, wiping the red lipstick off his mouth with his sleeve.

 

_ This, _ he thought as he left the theatre and stepped out into the brisk night air,  _ is going to be torture. _


	11. Part 11

The morning of opening night, Grace woke up to the smell of pancakes and the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. Isra was nowhere to be found, which was strange because Grace almost always woke up with the cat asleep on her chest. She put on her contacts and tried to tame her bedhead, shoved her feet in some slippers, and slowly opened her bedroom door to step into the kitchen.

 

“Good morning, Grace!” came Mayleen’s chipper voice from the stove, where she stood in a long t-shirt making the pancakes Grace had smelled. Unable to locate the source of the laughing, Grace stepped into the kitchen suspiciously.

 

“Hey, Grace,” came another voice, and Grace whipped around to see Rosa sitting at the kitchen table, also in just a long t-shirt, her face completely red but a smile playing on her lips.

 

It took Grace a second to figure out what was going on, but then she realized.

 

“Oh my god!” she squealed, clapping a hand over her mouth. “I must be a really heavy sleeper.”

 

Rosa’s face got impossibly redder, but Mayleen just laughed. “You were pretty exhausted after your shift Sunday. I was a little surprised, but it was convenient.”

 

Grace let out another surprised laugh, then sat down at the table next to Rosa, who had Isra in her lap.

 

“You stole my roommate  _ and  _ my cat,” she grumbled playfully to Rosa, reaching over to rub Isra’s gray ears. 

 

“Lo siento,” Rosa muttered. Grace turned back to Mayleen, still at the stove.

 

“Wow, so uh, guys, how did this happen?”

 

“Well, when a woman and another woman like each other very very much…” Mayleen started in a teasing tone, but was cut off by Grace and Rosa both yelling at her, the former throwing a balled-up napkin that Mayleen barely dodged.

 

“You know that’s not what I meant! I know how  _ that _ works! Tell me about your date!”

 

“Well, we went out dancing last night. I thought I’d try to help Rosa de-stress after final dress, because I get how tough tech and dress weeks can be. We went out for dinner, then we went to a club not too far away from your theater, then we came here.”

 

“Where you and Rosa de-stressed,” Grace deadpanned, sending Rosa into a fit of embarrassed giggles.

 

“Exactly. Several times,” Mayleen quipped shamelessly.

 

“God,” Grace snorted. “Well, I’m glad to see you guys together.”

 

“We’re glad to be together,” Rosa mumbled, flustered. Mayleen turned around with a smile and walked over to kiss her. Grace rolled her eyes jokingly.

 

“Yeah, we had a good time last night so I think we’re just gonna see how this goes,” Mayleen said, pulling away from Rosa and moving to stand behind her, wrapping her arms around her from behind. “But I have a really good feeling about it.”

 

Rosa turned to look up at Mayleen with soft eyes, and Grace gave them a second before she obnoxiously cooed at them. Then she got up to turn on the tea kettle on the other side of the room to give them a little privacy and pulled her phone out of the waistband of her pajama pants. There was a new text from Ajay.

 

**Ajay:** You ready for opening night?

 

She thought for a second before texting him back.

 

**Grace:** yes? maybe? i’m a little nervous

 

**Ajay:** I get that. But you’re going to be amazing.

 

**Grace:** i bet you say that to all the people who star in your productions

 

**Ajay:** You got me there. It doesn’t mean it’s any less true.

 

Grace laughed a little, then tucked her phone back into her waistband. The water was done boiling, so she dumped some loose jasmine black tea into the infuser in her teapot and poured the water in, setting a timer for five minutes to let it steep. Her phone buzzed insistently at her hip, so she wiped her hands off and pulled it back out.

 

**Ajay:** It might go without saying, but I’m really looking forward to seeing you today.

 

**Ajay:** This evening.

 

**Ajay:** At 6.

 

**Ajay:** Which is call time.

 

**Grace:** i know when call is 

 

**Grace:** if you were trying to be cute it didn’t work  **😂**

 

**Ajay:** Just making sure.

 

**Grace:** i’ll be there. and hey, try not to melt into a puddle of stress today

 

**Ajay:** Anything for you. See you tonight.

 

Grace stopped by the fridge to take a bowl of fruit and grabbed her teapot to take back to her room. Rosa and Mayleen were still being disgustingly cute and Grace didn’t want to interrupt. Once in her room, she poured herself a mug of tea and sat on her bed with her script, running through places that had been trouble spots during final dress. Thankfully there weren’t many, but Grace knew she couldn’t be too careful.

 

The morning faded into afternoon all too quickly, and after a shower, lunch courtesy of a microwave meal, some quick physical and vocal warm-ups and another anxious look at her script, it was 5pm. She knew she had to leave in about ten minutes in order to get to the theatre early (and early was on time), so she pulled on her socks, grabbed her theatre bag that was still packed from final dress, and walked out into the kitchen.

 

Mayleen and Rosa sprang apart from where they’d been on the couch. Grace just rolled her eyes with a smile. She crossed over to the kitchen to fill her water bottle.

 

“It’s almost time to go, Rosa,” she called in the direction of the couch. Rosa made her way back to Mayleen’s room (probably where she’d kept her stuff) and Grace dropped down onto the couch next to Mayleen.

 

“So,” Grace said, grinning widely.

 

“So.” Mayleen answered, matching her grin.

 

Grace shook her head slightly. “I’ve never seen you this smiley. It’s weird.”

 

Mayleen gave a noncommittal shrug, and Grace laughed.

 

“Oh, I’m coming to see your show next Friday,” Mayleen announced, clearly wanting to change the topic.

 

“Wow, okay! Stay after and Rosa and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

 

“Awesome.”

 

The two chatted for a little longer before Rosa reemerged with her bag. Grace stood up and the pair put their shoes on at the door and Grace waited patiently outside while Rosa kissed Mayleen goodbye, then they walked down the street to the subway station together.

 

They rode for a few minutes in silence, then Rosa spoke up.

 

“You still sure that’s not weird?”

 

Grace giggled. “Yeah. But I would’ve appreciated a warning. I guess I’m just lucky Mayleen and I don’t share a wall.”

 

Rosa rolled her eyes, but Grace saw a genuine happiness in her expression.

 

“I’ve never seen Mayleen so cheerful in the mornings,” Grace said. “I’m really happy for you guys.”

 

Rosa ducked her head. “Thanks. If I’m being honest, I was only there for Isra.” Grace laughed.

 

The train ride and short walk to the theatre passed quickly, and the two walked through the stage door fifteen minutes early. They ran into Ajay just inside. 

 

Grace gave him a teasing wink and tried to walk past, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him. Rosa kept walking, and Grace knew that she’d hear about it later. Nevertheless, she let Ajay pull her back.

 

“You need something?” she asked, eyebrows raised. He slowly backed her up against the wall and pressed his lips to her collarbone, her neck, her jaw, careful not to leave marks, then pulled away with an intense look on his face.

 

“Yeah. You.”

 

Grace’s heart jumped into her throat, and she pulled him forward to crash their lips together. His hands came up to her hips and he pushed her back harder against the wall. She ran a hand through his hair.

 

When he pulled away again, her lips stung from the pressure. Something akin to joy sparkled in his eyes, and he pulled her in one more time for a kiss that was softer, shorter, sweeter. He ran his fingers through her hair, making shivers run down her spine.

 

“God,” was all Grace could say, completely breathless. “That all you got?”

 

He scoffed. “Hardly. But you need to get in costume. We’ll meet in the music room at quarter til to warm-up and for a pep talk. Oh, and Grace?”

 

His eyes swept over her. She shivered again, but met his gaze. He reached over to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. She barely noticed it, but he blushed just a little bit.

 

“There’s a lot more where that came from.”

 

He grinned at her—a bright, brilliant thing—then spun on his heel and left.

 

Grace took a moment to gather herself, to slow the desire that curled low in her stomach, to remember how to breathe again. He had her intoxicated by his presence, dizzying her with his touch until the only thing left in her head was a deep need for more.

 

He’d certainly come a long way from the awkward boy he was in high school.

 

She shook her head and tucked that away for later. She knew she needed to focus. Still, even though her mind stayed focused on the trouble spots she’d gone over that morning, her hand drifted up to stroke the places he’d kissed her, her thumb absently tracing her swollen lips.

 

She quickly got changed into the dress she wore at the top of Act One, an exact copy of the iconic burgundy dress but riddled with gunshots and bloodstains. One of the makeup artists came in to help her apply some blood streaks (made out of tape for easy removal) to her face. Grace took a little while to braid her hair flat against her head and to put her wig and hat on, then she was ready to go. 

 

On her way down to the music room she stopped by Rosa’s dressing room. She shared it with the woman who played the governor, but she was finishing up her makeup when Grace arrived and vacated fairly quickly. Grace took her seat next to Rosa, who was intently lining her lips.

 

“You feeling ready?” Grace asked, nerves coursing through her veins. Rosa took a second to finish her makeup and consider the question.

 

“Yes,” she said decisively. “Everyone’s worked so hard and we’ve had a ton of fun. I think this is going to go really well.”

 

“Optimism. I like it.”

 

“I try. How about you? Feeling ready?”

 

“Mmm,” Grace hummed noncommittally. “I guess I kind of have to be.”

 

“Yeah, a little bit. But you don’t have anything to worry about. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked on this show. You’re absolutely the right person to be the lead, and I’m completely sure that you’ll be amazing.”

 

“Aw, Rosa!” Grace quickly flung her arms around Rosa, trying not to tear up and ruin her makeup. “You always know exactly what to say.”

 

Rosa simply shrugged. “Anyone here would say the same.”

 

“Still. It means so much. I think… ugh,” Grace trailed off as she turned her face up towards the ceiling, trying desperately not to let tears run down her cheeks. “I think I’m breaking out of this funk that I’ve been in for half a year. Like, I heard your compliment and I didn’t automatically think that you were just lying because we’re friends. I don’t automatically declare myself a failure anymore when I mess up little things.”

 

“That’s great, Grace! I’m really proud of all the progress you’ve made. You’re a ton more confident than when we first met.”

 

“It’s mostly because of you, yknow,” Grace said, reaching over to squeeze Rosa’s hand. Rosa just shook her head.

 

“No, it was all you. But I’m glad that I could help.” Rosa handed Grace a stack of tissues and Grace carefully blotted at the corners of her eyes with them. When she finished, Grace moved to pull Rosa into a tight hug.

 

Once they separated, Grace’s eyes found the clock. It was almost 6:45.

 

“We should go soon. Ajay said to be in the music room at quarter til.”

 

“Oh, is that what he said?” Rosa asked, her face neutral but her voice light and teasing. Grace blushed and smacked Rosa lightly on the arm.

 

“Yes! Now let’s go.” Grace pulled Rosa from the dressing room.

 

“Ay dios mio! Let me put my shoes on!”

 

“Hurry up!”

 

After some friendly bickering and speed-walking to the music room, they were among the first to arrive. Rosa huffed indignantly at Grace, then went over to check her makeup in the mirrors that covered the walls. Grace looked around the room and settled down next to Kevin. She offered a hand for a high five.

 

“Ready to be a 1930s power couple?” he asked.

 

“Yup. ‘Two livin’ legends’,” she quoted with a smile.

 

He chuckled, then his face turned serious. “Nervous?”

 

“Yeah. I think I will be until we’re onstage.”

 

“Really?” Kevin asked. “I didn’t think you got nervous.”

 

“What? Why not?”

 

“I dunno. You always seem so calm onstage.”

 

“It’s an act. It’s all an act,” Grace laughed. Kevin looked relieved, and Grace set a hand on his shoulder. “We’re gonna be awesome.”

 

At that moment, Ajay entered, followed by Emily. He sent a stunning grin Grace’s way—she remembered with all too much clarity how that grin had felt against her lips—then turned to address the room at large. He spun a chair around and sat backwards on it, facing the collection of actors.

 

“Alright,” he started with a big smile, “you guys have worked so hard on this production, and I’m so incredibly proud of all of you. All I’m gonna ask of you guys is to keep that passion up for the entire run. Don’t let me down now.”

 

The cast laughed.

 

“I’m going to be watching from the audience tonight. We’ll meet here right after the show every night for notes, and I’ll also email them out.” He paused to check his watch. “Alright, curtain in ten. Go make me proud.”

 

With that he and Emily left, and the cast slowly got up from their seats. Grace’s stomach started to churn and a burning sensation ran up her throat into her chest. Her hands started to shake, and her leg started to bounce. She got up quickly and made her way backstage, where she paced behind the curtain until she nearly ran into Kaylie who was doing the exact same thing, her face white as a sheet.

 

Grace stopped her and reached around to adjust a bow on Kaylie costume.

 

“Hey, you okay?”

 

Kaylie swallowed. “I’m fine,” she said unconvincingly.

 

Grace grimaced sympathetically. “I’m nervous too. This waiting around part kind of sucks.”

 

A small smile reached Kaylie’s face. “Yeah, it really does.”

 

“Can I give you a hug?” Grace asked. When the girl nodded, Grace wrapped her arms tightly around her.

 

“You’re going to be great, Kaylie. I know it.”

 

The smile reached Kaylie’s face. “Thanks, Grace. You too.”

 

Just then, Emily appeared from the wings to tap on Grace’s shoulder and gesture to the car. Places. Grace took in several deep breaths, then walked onstage to join Kevin. She got in the car with him and he gave her a smile. She rested her head on his shoulder and they both closed their eyes. They heard the sound from the audience get quieter, then the curtains rolled open and the lights came up on the stage.

 

***

 

_ The light went amber, a sunset fading in the distance. Bonnie stood in front of her car, angrily kicking the front tire. _

 

_ “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” _ __   
  


_ Clyde sauntered up to her, an unkempt man in a torn white tank top and suspenders. She had no reason to trust him, but immediately upon seeing him she did anyways. _

 

_ “Hey!” he said. “Engine trouble?” _

 

_ She finally stopped kicking the tire. “Engine trouble, tire trouble, oil trouble…” she listed, sounding defeated. _

 

_ “Looks like you and me got the same car,” Clyde noted. “Goes through oil like a preacher through whiskey, huh?” _

 

_ Bonnie smiled, just a little. “Yeah.” _

 

_ “How ‘bout I see if I can fix you up? And then maybe you gimme a lift into West Dallas.” _

 

_ “Sure. Thanks,” she said, then stepped back to let him pop the hood and peer under it. “You live in the Devil’s Back Porch?” _

 

_ “Not for much longer.” _

 

_ “I don’t know anybody ever moved out of West Dallas,” Bonnie said, hands on her hips. He pulled his head out from under the hood and offered her a grease-stained hand. _

 

_ “You do now,” he said with a wink. “Clyde Barrow.” _

 

_ She shook her head, but smiled and took his hand to shake. “Bonnie Parker.” _

 

***

 

_ Clyde, now clad in a suit, pointed a shotgun at a bank teller. Bonnie stood beside him, a large leather bag hanging from her shoulder. _

 

_ “Now, my partner here is gonna approach the counter with a bag that I would very much like you to fill with cash,” he said, his voice commanding the silence of the entire bank. _

 

_ “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” the teller said calmly. Only his trembling fingers betrayed his anxiety. _

 

_ Clyde raised his eyebrows, and exchanged a look with Bonnie. “Do you not see this gun, mister?” He gestured with the gun, causing a few in the crowd of hostages nearby to startle. _

 

_ “I can’t fill your bag with cash because there isn’t any,” the teller clarified, a shake starting to become audible in his voice. _

 

_ “This here’s a bank, ain’t it?” Clyde asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. _

 

_ “Yes, but--” _

 

_ Clyde looked around as if he’d just noticed the uncommonly large crowd at the bank. “What is goin’ on here?” _ __   
  


_ “The bank’s closed.” _

 

_ “Then what’re all these folks doin’ here?” _

 

_ “Trying to get our damn money!” shouted an older man from near the back of the crowd. _

 

_ “They’re sayin’ the bank is broke!” yelled the woman beside him. _

 

_ “Not a nickle in the drawers,” said the teller. _

 

_ “You’re tellin’ me I’m robbing a bank with no money?” Clyde said, disbelief coloring his tone. _

 

_ “Complaint forms are over there.” _

 

***

 

For Grace, the curtain call was always a precious moment. She and Kevin stepped onto the stage, hand in hand, to thunderous applause. Tears welled up in her eyes from the pure joy of the moment as she took her bow. As soon as the curtain closed, she let them fall. Rosa rushed up to her, putting a hand on her back as Grace desperately tried to wipe the tears away.

 

“Grace, are you okay?”

 

Grace nodded, a small sob bursting from her throat. She sniffed and tilted her head up to the lights. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”

 

Rosa grinned and put an arm around Grace’s shoulders, guiding her backstage to the music room. After a few minutes of the cast circulating the room, hugging and cheering, Ajay stepped in and they all fell silent.

 

“Good job, guys,” he said, trying not to sound too enthusiastic. “I have a couple notes, but that was a good show.”

 

The entire cast started cheering again, louder than before. They knew that that kind of compliment out of their director was  rare, and it meant a lot more than he wanted them to think. Eventually, they quieted down to receive their notes, then dispersed to their respective dressing rooms. Grace stayed behind, waiting in the hallway outside the music room. When Ajay finally emerged, she caught his attention and he pulled her over to an alcove in the hall. He took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead almost reverently.

 

“You were stunning up there, Grace. I knew you would be.” He kissed both her cheeks and then pressed his lips softly to hers. “Now go home, get some sleep. We’ve still got three shows left this week.”

 

***

 

After the show Sunday, the end of the first week:

 

“Mom! Dad! James!” Grace cried, running full tilt through the nearly empty lobby to sweep her family up into a giant hug.

 

Once they broke apart, everyone grinning, Grace’s dad handed her a gigantic bouquet. Her mom beamed at her. James just sighed and ruffled her hair from his height almost a foot above her.

 

“Thanks, guys! And hey, cut it out!” She batted James’ hand away from her head. “But really, thank you guys so much for coming!”

 

“It was great, Gracie,” her mom said, smoothing her hair down where James had messed it up. “You’re our little star.”

 

“Hey!” James protested, sending the whole group into peals of laughter. Grace caught Ajay’s eye from where he was leaning against the wall, waiting.

 

“Guys,” she said, turning back to her family, “I want to introduce you to the director. Or, reintroduce you.”

 

Her father’s brow furrowed in confusion, but her mom’s eyes widened when she saw Ajay walking up to the group over Grace’s shoulder.

 

***

 

Friday, the second week:

 

_ “Bonnie!” Clyde yelled, reaching through the bars. Bonnie rushed over to him, throwing her bag to the ground and sinking to her knees when she saw him. _

 

_ “Oh my god… what happened to your face, baby? What’s goin’ on? Can’t I complain? Can’t I do something?” She turned to yell for the prison guards.  _

 

_ “Somebody help him!” _

 

_ She turned back to him, her eyes searching his face for some sort of explanation. Clyde opened his mouth, but said nothing. _

 

Grace tugged on Kevin’s collar again, but the only thing she could register on his face was sheer panic. His line cued the guard’s entry, but he wasn’t saying it. The silence grew awkward, and Grace knew she had to do something, she just didn’t know what.

 

_ “Baby, what can I do? Can I–” Bonnie looked around, then lowered her voice. “Can I break you out of here? You got somethin’ I can bring you to help you bust out?” _

 

Grace searched Kevin’s still-panicked face, hoping that improvised line was enough to give him a cue. And as realization slowly flooded his eyes and his face relaxed, she breathed a sigh of relief and knew it had been.

 

_ “Yeah, at the gas station, there’s a gun hidden under the porch–” he started, but a guard burst into the room, interrupting him.  _

 

_ “What seems to be the problem?” _

 

_ Bonnie turned to face the guard, standing up. Pure rage twisted her features. _

 

_ “Look at him!” _

 

***

 

After the show Friday, Grace leaned against the door of her dressing room, scrolling through her phone. Ajay sauntered up.

 

“Hey,” he said, startling her. “Oh, sorry.”

 

“No, don’t worry. I’m just waiting for Rosa.”

 

“Is she running late, or something? You guys usually leave together.”

 

“Yeah, but my roommate came to this performance so we’re all going to leave together. But Rosa’s currently making out with my roommate in her dressing room, so…”

 

Ajay’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow.”

 

“Yeah,” Grace sighed. “If only there was something I could do in the meantime…” She cast him a meaningful glance. He promptly turned red and started stuttering. Grace burst out into laughter.

 

“I don’t get you,” she said between laughs. “You can be the smoothest guy in the world one second and a blubbering mess the next. What’s up with that?”

 

He shook his head with a smile. “I don’t know. I guess you bring out the best and the worst in me.”

 

***

 

Sunday, the second week:

 

_ Bonnie threw a glass jar to the ground, enraged. Then, all the fight gone out of her, she sighed and dropped to her knees, sweeping the shards onto a piece of fabric that she dumped in the trash. The familiar piano-and-guitar melody started up, and after a few bars Bonnie began to sing. _

 

_ “I know my heart don’t care what people say. All I know is that I never felt like this. And besides, I wouldn’t change him if I could… No man’s all good…” _

 

_ She walked over to an old armchair and sat heavily in it while Blanche sang from inside her beauty parlor. _

 

_ “I always knew what I was takin’ on, but I always felt that I could change his ways. Even if my man will never fall in line… glad he’s mine.” _

 

_ And then, from opposite sides of Cement City, Bonnie and Blanche sang in harmony. _

 

_ “‘Cos you love who you love, and you can’t help how you’re made. You don’t have no say, your heart decides. It’s that simple, I’m afraid…” _

 

_ Later in the song, Bonnie got up from her armchair. She pulled on Clyde’s old coat that he’d left in her house, and she gazed offstage, singing as if he were there. _

 

_ “I only care that he’s mine and I am his. There ain’t no rules, that’s how it is. Most girls would hate to be standing in my shoes, but true love’s something you don’t choose,” she belted, all the loneliness and anguish and desperation flooding her face and affecting her tone. _

 

Grace poured her own emotions into every syllable of those words, singing to her invisible Clyde right in the front of the wings. Except he wasn’t invisible, and he wasn’t Clyde, and he wasn’t even hers yet but he was standing there in a beige blazer and tortoiseshell glasses with gentle eyes and a soft smile, his face reflecting every sentiment she expressed. And she hoped that he knew that she meant every single word, even if she couldn’t tell him.

 

***

 

Thursday, the last week:

 

As she stormed offstage as Bonnie, Grace felt a sharp pain in her foot. She ignored it until she got to the wings, but immediately sat down under a blue light once she was there and took off her thin-soled shoe. The sharp pain only got worse when the removal of her shoe meant pulling a large shard of glass out of her heel. She nearly cried out in pain, but clamped a hand over her mouth before any sound could escape. One of the dressers—the one that helped Grace pull the gunshot wound stickers off her face during the prologue—noticed and rushed over, grabbing the first aid kit from the wall.

 

The dresser helped her back to her well-lit dressing room, then inspected the cut.

 

“It’s not too deep,” the dresser smiled up at her. “I’ll just clean it, stick a bandage on, and wrap it up. You’ll be fine for the rest of the show, but you should probably get it checked out tonight or tomorrow morning.”

 

Grace hissed as the dresser sprayed antibacterial on her foot. “How do you know all this?”

 

“I’m a paramedic,” the dresser grinned up at her. 

 

“Wow. Well, thank god for you. I hope this is the worst you ever have to save me from.”

 

They laughed softly as the dresser finished bandaging her foot.

 

“When do you have to be back on?”

 

“After they do ‘When I Drive’. It’s not a lot of time, but it’s something.”

 

The dresser sighed. “Well, rest that foot as much as you can.”

 

“Yeah. Thanks so much.”

 

The dresser turned to leave, and Grace sighed down at her foot, still smarting from the glass shard. She’d have to be careful next time about only breaking the jar over the rug.

 

***

 

Curtain call closing night was indescribable. The joy she’d felt opening night was multiplied and combined with nostalgia, fierce love for every person onstage and backstage, and this time she really did tear up right on stage. Kevin wrapped his arm around her shoulder (and pressed a kiss to her temple for the sake of the audience) as tears rolled down her face. She wiped them away and put on her best and brightest smile for the audience, all standing, until the curtains closed. Then she turned directly into Kevin and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his chest.

 

When she looked up, she was surprised to find that his cheeks were wet too. And she was even more surprised when Rosa came and wrapped her arms around both of them, then Elijah, then Andrew, then Lysander, then Kaylie and Jackson, then all of the ensemble and even the dressers and run crew came out and joined the massive group hug. More people were crying than not, and most from pure happy joy.

 

Minutes later, when the hug finally broke up, everyone split off in opposite directions. They were all eager to get home, fatigue turning to happy exhaustion. They’d all help with strike Monday, but nobody planned to show up before noon. The theatre may have been rapidly emptying, but Grace’s heart was filling up fast. The cast and crew might have been wavering, but she thrummed with energy as she went to look for Ajay.

 

She searched backstage for him, behind every set piece and in every darkened corner. Nothing.

 

_ No mind, _ she thought,  _ he’s probably in the music room. _ That was where they had notes every night, and even though they wouldn’t tonight it wasn’t unreasonable to think he’d be there. She made her way down to the music room, but it was empty.

 

Turning desperate, she searched the halls through the theatre, the house, and the lobby for him, but he was nowhere to be found. As she made a final lap through the music room, just to make sure she hadn’t missed him, her heart sank lower and lower until she felt it drop out of her body and sink into the floor. She rounded the stairs to head resignedly back to her dressing room.

 

_ He stood me up, _ was all she could think.  _ He realized he was making a mistake and he bolted. _ Logic piped up and tried to tell her she was being unreasonable, but between the emotions running high from closing night and the fissure quickly forming in her heart, she couldn’t listen.

 

_ Maybe he has a good explanation, _ her brain protested as she trudged up the stairs.  _ You should go check your phone. _

 

_ Or maybe I’m just a failure again, _ her heart screamed, drowning out all reason.

 

Tears sprung in her eyes again, but for a completely different reason this time. She slowly turned the knob to her dressing room door, all the happiness gone out of her. She was so preoccupied with her warring emotions that she didn’t even notice that the light was on in the dressing room.


	12. Part 12

Ajay wondered where Grace was. By his count the show had ended nearly twenty minutes ago, and at the ten-minute mark his thoughts had started to run dark.  _ What if she stood me up? She realized that she made a mistake?  _ He told himself the worries were unfounded, but the thoughts persisted. 

Now at twenty past curtain call, his spirit was almost crushed. He thought she would at least text him to let him know she wasn’t coming. He began to wonder if he’d overstepped by setting himself up in her dressing room.  _ Am I cornering her? Pressuring her? Holding her too closely to something she said so many weeks ago? _ He thought maybe she’d changed her mind and didn’t want him anymore.

He quickly straightened up, however, when Grace’s dressing room door creaked open. He smoothed his shirt down and tucked his phone into his back pocket, doing a cursory check around the small room to make sure everything he set up was still there. Her favorite flowers, check. Pastries he’d picked up during the show, check. Himself, fully and completely, check. 

He drew in a deep breath and looked up to the doorway.

 

Grace was standing there, still in full makeup and costume, her eyes as round as saucers.

 

“Oh,” she said softly, evidently surprised.

 

“Hi,” he said back, silently cursing himself for his awkwardness. He smiled, but that was when he saw the red around her eyes. He rushed over to her and pulled her close to him.

 

“Grace, what’s wrong?”

 

She buried her head in his shoulder. After a moment, she pulled away from him and he reluctantly let go.

 

“You’re here,” she said, grinning brightly, the happiness in her eyes radiating through the room.

 

“Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?”

 

She laughed and pulled him in, her hands on the sides of his face and her nose only inches from his.

 

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know.”

 

Ajay found himself lost in her eyes and was genuinely floored by all the affection and desire that he found there. He almost gave in, but pulled himself back at the last second.

 

“You should probably get changed,” he explained when she shot him a confused look for backing away. “And take off your stage makeup.”

 

She rolled her eyes, still smiling. “Killjoy.” But she turned to her vanity and sat, grabbing a package of makeup wipes.

 

Throwing caution to the wind, he stepped up behind her and set his hands on her shoulders.

 

“Can I help with the wig?”

 

She made eye contact with him through the mirror, her face turning just the slightest bit pink.

“Yeah, okay.”

 

He nodded and got to work, unpinning the wig and lifting it off her head, placing it on the styrofoam head on the counter. Next, he pulled off her wig cap and put it over on the same counter. He carefully and slowly unbraided her hair, keeping the ties on his wrist. Every time his fingers brushed her neck, he felt her shiver and he smiled to himself.

 

He ran his hands through Grace’s unbraided hair once for good measure (and to make her shiver again), then stepped back. She was peeling the glue from her false eyelashes off, rolling it into little balls and flicking them into the trash can. Once she finally finished, she stood up and turned around, stepping into his space again. She reached for him again, but Ajay held her back, his fingers rubbing the fabric at her waist.

 

“Costume,” he reminded her with a smile. She jokingly sighed and pulled away, biting her lip in a move so incredibly adorable that he wanted to take it all back and just pull her in right then. She turned around.

 

“Could you help me with the zipper?” Grace asked, pointing at her collar and turning her head to look back toward him with a smirk.

 

“Are you trying to kill me?”

 

“Maybe,” she replied, “but I really would like help with the zipper.”

 

Carefully, hands shaking just the tiniest bit, he undid the hook and eye at the top of the zipper and pulled it down all the way to the small of her back, torturously slowly. Then he backed away.

 

“Thanks,” she said, cheeks pink. “Now turn around and I’ll finish changing.”

 

“Ugh, fine,” Ajay said, turning his back to her and facing the wall. For a second all he heard was rustling, then she spoke again.

 

“How can you be so awkward and shy when you literally pushed me up against a wall on opening night? I don’t get it, like, choose whether you’re gonna be smooth or shy.”

 

“I can’t help it,” he said bashfully. “Sometimes you make me so nervous that I can hardly breathe, and other times I just want you so much that I can ignore all that.”

 

He heard her cough. “Really?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Wow, okay,” she said, and he could hear the smile on her face. There were a few more seconds of comfortable silence until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, taking her into his arms at last.

 

“So what’s all this?” she asked, her arms around his neck and her head angled slightly towards the vase to his left.

 

“Lilacs. And the pastries are cinnamon apple turnovers,” he said proudly. Her face lit up and she pulled away from him to inspect the flowers closely.

 

“You remembered,” she murmured, gently rubbing a petal between her fingers. “And did you make the turnovers?”

 

“No, they would’ve been cold by the time I got them here. I got them from a bakery during Act Two.”

 

She hummed. “If you can’t make your own cinnamon apple turnovers, store-bought is fine.”

 

“Quiet, you,” he said softly, pulling her back towards him. Her arms wrapped back around his neck, and this time when she leaned in he moved to meet her.

 

They’d kissed before, of course, countless times, but this kiss was a sunrise. It filled him with warmth and he drew her in closer until she was completely pressed against him. He felt, rather than heard, her hum right before she pulled away slightly, only to push him backwards into the old armchair in the corner of her dressing room where he’d spent tech week lunches. Before he could catch his breath from the surprise of falling, she climbed into his lap. He felt her breath on his lips for a second before she pressed her lips to his again, her hand warm on his cheek.

 

Ajay shifted to pull Grace in even closer, grabbing a quick breath before kissing her back even harder. He slid his hand down from her waist to her thigh, and he heard her breath hitch before she nipped at his bottom lip, drawing a quiet groan out of him.

 

It was hard to keep track of how long they were there. To Ajay, it could’ve been hours just as easily as seconds. Grace, the feel of her weight on his lap, the fabric of her leggings under his fingers, her thumb lazily drawing circles on his cheek, were all that mattered. The room seemed to fade as they kissed again and again, each kiss somehow better than the last.

 

Eventually they separated, and Ajay took the moment to just revel in Grace’s presence, in her softness and her passion and in the light pink blush that was spreading over more and more of her face the longer he looked at her. She was everything. He meant to tell her, but the words wouldn’t quite come out, so he poured his meaning into his expression and hoped she’d understand.

 

She leaned in to kiss him again—this time outright teasing—and then climbed off his lap. He immediately missed her presence, but couldn’t help but smile and shake his head as she grabbed one of the pastries off the plate.

 

“Hey, hand me the other one,” he said, gesturing for the turnover.

 

“Greedy,” she teased, but handed it over. She sat down on the floor and patted the ground next to her. He sat down.

 

“So,” she started, “this is amazing.”

 

“Aren’t they? The bakery really has such a nice flavor. I should take you there sometime, they have all sorts of pastries that I know you’ll love.”

 

“That’s cool, and we should definitely check that out, but I meant this,” she said through a mouthful of turnover, gesturing around the room. She swallowed. “Being with you, I mean. For real.”

 

He grinned and laced their fingers together, bringing her hand up to kiss the back.

 

“So, as much as I hate labels,” she started, but he cut her off.

 

“Grace, relax. I want to be with you. I want to be yours. I want to be your boyfriend.”

 

“Oh, cool. Cool, cool,” she said, clearly relieved. “That’s what I want, too.”

 

“You want to be my boyfriend?”

 

“Oh my god, shut up!” she said, smacking him lightly. “I meant I want to be yours.”

 

“I know what you meant, goofball. But I do think I should ask if that’s okay. Just because we both had problematic relationships in the past that got too serious too quickly.”

 

Grace sighed and sat back. “Can I be honest for a second?”

 

“I’d prefer you never stop being honest, but go ahead.”

 

“I think seeing Brooke all those weeks ago gave me the closure I needed to move past how badly things ended between us. You helped me figure out that she was a manipulative, cheating piece of shit and that I deserved better. So I’m in a good place emotionally speaking, but I just want us to always be straightforward with each other.”

 

Ajay nodded, taking in her words. “I’m glad I was able to help you through that. And I’ll promise you right now that I’ll always be as honest as I can with you. I know communication really makes or breaks a relationship, and I want this to work, Grace. I really do.”

 

“Me too,” she smiled softly, then leaned in slowly. He met her halfway for a slow, languid kiss. He already felt more comfortable being in her arms than anywhere else, which he could only assume was a sign of good things to come. When he pulled away, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and stared into her eyes, a warm shade of chocolate brown that pulled him in. He pressed his lips again to her forehead.

 

“So, I have a proposition for you,” he said carefully, blushing despite himself.

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yes. Come home with me? I don’t want to stop this but I also don’t want to stay in the theatre all night.”

 

“You want to… spend the night with me?” she asked just as awkwardly, her blush intensifying.

 

“I mean, only if you want,” he asked more than said, becoming less and less confident by the second.

 

She pulled him into a searing kiss, a passionate answer that took his breath away and left no room for interpretation. But she still clarified once she sat back.

 

“I’d love to,” she grinned, a spark of excitement lighting in her eyes.

 

“Oh, thank god,” he said, burying his head into her neck. “That would’ve been really awkward if you didn’t want to.”

 

She laughed and stroked his hair. “If you didn’t ask, I would’ve. But I might politely request that we go to your place because I’m pretty sure Rosa’s with my roommate at my place right now.”

 

Ajay burst out laughing. “No problem. I do have a roommate, but he’s a heavy sleeper.”

 

He contemplated sending Jake a text to warn him, but ultimately decided against it. Jake went to bed pretty early as far as Ajay could remember, and he hadn’t lied about him being a heavy sleeper. And on top of all of that, hadn’t Jake brought countless girls home without so much as a warning to Ajay? Revenge may not have been his goal, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still sweet.

 

He stood up, smoothed out his shirt again, and extended a hand to Grace. Once she stood up she didn’t let go except to pick up her bag, and the two left the theatre and walked toward the subway station hand in hand.

 

The twenty-minute train ride went by torturously slowly. As soon as they sat down in a nearly empty train car, Ajay found a place to rest his hand on Grace’s knee and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek. She got her phone out—probably to tell her roommate she wouldn’t be home—and he took advantage of her distraction to just look at her.

 

Every place they touched felt electric. Her hair, still wavy from the braids, tumbled down onto her shoulders and reached to just below her collarbone like a waterfall, and Ajay was mesmerized. He could still remember the pink streaks she’d sported her freshman year of high school, how he’d loved to wrap those pieces of hair around his fingers. His eyes swept over her soft skin and her gentle eyes, eyelashes still not free of mascara. Her right hand absently moved to his left hand on her knee and she laced their fingers together. Ajay nearly melted from the sensation, softening even though just that small touch was enough to make him feel like his entire body was on fire.

 

Grace tucked her phone away and turned to face him, and he knew he’d been caught.

 

“See something you like?” she teased.

 

“Mmmm, maybe,” he teased back, grinning as her eyes lit up and she scooted in even closer, the entire line of her body pressed against his. He cupped her neck and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

 

As soon as they crossed the turnstiles to leave the station near Ajay’s apartment, he groaned as he heard rain falling outside.

 

“Okay, this is the part where you don’t hate me,” he started.

 

“I could never hate you,” Grace replied. “What is it?”

 

“It’s raining, and my apartment is kind of a ten minute walk away, and I don’t have an umbrella.”

 

Grace rolled her eyes at him. “It’s just rain, Ajay. I’m sure we can dry off once we get to your place, anyways.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“ _ Yes _ ,” she said with a note of impatience, “Now come on!”

 

Hands still linked, they set out towards the building. Ajay braced himself for the rain, taking his glasses off and tucking them into an inside pocket for safekeeping.

 

They walked most of the way in silence, but just around the corner from the apartment complex Grace stopped him, grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face her.

 

“What?”

 

“Haven’t you ever wanted to kiss in the rain?” she asked.

 

“No?”

 

“Oh.” Her face fell slightly.

 

“I didn’t say I was against it, though. I just never thought about it,” he reassured her hurriedly, an ache in his heart easing when she smiled again.

 

“Oh,” she said, then went up on her tiptoes and kissed him gently, just once. 

 

And it was perfect.


	13. Part 13

Grace woke up Monday morning to sunlight streaming through the windows into the peach-colored room and a pillow pressed up against her back. She groaned and rolled over, stretching out, and finding the other side of the bed empty.

 

She was disappointed until she heard conversation and laughing from the other side of the door and a delicious smell wafting in. Grace was hungry. She popped her back, then sank her toes into the soft carpet. After pushing herself up she rummaged through her bag, grabbing a sports bra and a pair of shorts to wear with the t-shirt she’d slept in. She brought the collar up to her nose and sniffed–it smelled just like him, a soapy smell with a little mint. She quickly put the clothes on, then opened the door to Ajay’s bedroom.

 

She leaned against the door frame for a moment, a soft smile crossing her face as she looked out into the kitchen. He was there, stirring something in a saucepan while his roommate (his name was Jake, Grace dimly recalled) sat at the breakfast bar nursing a large cup of coffee. A timer went off somewhere in the kitchen.

 

“Dammit, I almost forgot about the muffins,” she heard Ajay say. “Jake, could you please–”

 

“I’m on it.” As Jake was getting off his stool, he turned and noticed Grace.

 

“Hey, Grace!” he called over with a smile as he walked around to the oven. Ajay whipped his head around, his face lighting up when he saw her.

 

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

 

Grace pushed herself off the door frame and walked over. Jake, having gotten the english muffins out of the oven, gave a huge yawn as he walked over to Grace.

 

“Sleep well? I didn’t,” he smirked, holding out a hand for her to shake. She turned scarlet, instantly realizing what he meant.

 

“Jake, stop being a dick,” Ajay called from the kitchen. Grace tentatively took Jake’s hand, opening her mouth to apologize when he shook his head.

 

“Don’t worry about it. Really.” Then Jake turned back to the breakfast bar, climbing back on his stool. Grace made her way over to Ajay, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind while he waited for the poached eggs to finish cooking. He turned his head to kiss her on the forehead.

 

“Grace, this fool is bringing someone home at least once a week. I guarantee you he didn’t care.”

 

Still red, Grace buried her face between Ajay’s shoulder blades, taking the moment to breathe in the smell of his t-shirt. But she dropped the subject.

 

“What are you making?” she asked in a voice still a little rough from just waking up.

 

“Eggs benedict,” he said proudly. “I’ve been working on the hollandaise sauce for days.”

 

“Aw, all this for me?”

 

“No, for me too. And for Jake, because apparently he thinks he can come out here, make fun of me, and still get free breakfast.”

 

“It’s true, though! You’re literally making enough for three.”

 

“I’ll throw this plate at your head,” Ajay joked, not even turning to look at him. Ajay made a move towards a slotted spoon on the counter, so Grace released him and went over to sit at the breakfast bar.

 

“So. Jake. I want to know all his embarrassing stories,” Grace said. Jake took another long sip of his coffee and rubbed at his eyes.

 

“Well, most of what he’s done lately has been talking nonstop about you,” Jake grinned.

 

“ _ Jake! _ ” Ajay yelled, nearly dropping an egg back into the pan. Jake just laughed, and Grace joined in.

 

“Oh, that reminds me,” Jake said, patting the counter, “Why were you guys  _ laughing _ last night? Ajay, did you-?”

 

“Okay, we are definitely not talking about this,” Ajay said hurriedly, cutting him off. Grace blushed again, but smiled apologetically when he set a plate down in front of her. She eagerly dug in to the eggs benedict, finding the hollandaise sauce to be a perfect compliment to the egg, canadian bacon, and english muffin.

 

“This tastes amazing! I could get used to this.”

 

“Anything for you. Coffee?” Ajay asked.

 

“Ooh, yes please. Two sugars and a little milk.”

 

“Coming right up.”

 

“Hey I’ll take another cup, black,” Jake piped up. Ajay glared at him as he set Grace’s mug down in front of her.

 

“Get it yourself.”

 

Jake, hands up in surrender, walked around to the coffee machine. Ajay finished serving up the eggs, then took a seat across from Grace. Once she’d finished a bite, he pulled her in for a kiss. Then he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

 

“How are you doing?” he asked quietly.

 

“Amazingly,” she replied, picking his hand up and kissing the back. Ajay was about to kiss her again when Jake settled back on his stool, fresh cup of coffee in hand.

 

“So, Grace,” Jake said, “Tell me about yourself! Ajay’s told me a lot, but that’s mostly been about your talent or how amazing you are.” Ajay turned red, burying his face in his hands and groaning. “I want to know something with more substance.”

 

“Well, um, what do you want to know?”

 

He paused, possibly thinking over possible questions. “What’s your favorite thing to do on a free weeknight?”

 

Grace tilted her head, considering the question. “I’d have to say watch movies. I have all these movies, old and new stuff I got from thrift stores, and I’ve been slowly working my way through them.”

 

Jake’s face lit up. “Oh, you like movies? That’s awesome. Ajay, you didn’t tell me she was this cool!”

 

“Pretty sure I did,” Ajay retorted, then turned to Grace. “He’s an indie film editor,” he explained.

 

Jake checked his watch and cursed, getting up. “Speaking of which, I have to go. I’m almost late and it’s your fault.”

 

“Payback!” Ajay yelled at his retreating back. Then he turned back to Grace.

 

“Sorry about him.”

 

“I’m embarrassed!” Grace wailed, putting her hands in front of her face. Ajay tugged her wrists away.

 

“Don’t be. He’s literally done that exact same thing to me over and over. He doesn’t care, he just likes to tease.”

 

“If you insist…”

 

Ajay grinned at her and sat back, finishing up his breakfast. “You like the eggs?”

 

“Loved them,” Grace replied. “The sauce was perfect and the muffins were even better. I’m lucky to have snapped you up, with all these baking skills. I thought your cooking was like a dream in high school, I didn’t know they could get better.”

 

“Oh, I did a summer abroad in Paris during college and took a few classes there. I still can’t even compare to the experts. But thank you, I’m glad you’re happy.”

 

“Ajay, you know I’d be happy here if you made me a bowl of cereal. You make me happy, the delicious food is just a plus.”

 

He shook his head and beamed at her. “How did I get lucky enough to get a second chance with you?”

 

“We’re both lucky.” Grace leaned in to kiss him, but jumped back when Jake bustled through the apartment, a briefcase over his shoulder.

 

“See you guys.”

 

“Bye!” Ajay called, then stood up to shut the door behind him and swept Grace up into a bruising kiss, running his hands down her sides.

 

“I thought he’d never leave,” he whispered, making her giggle. He kissed her deeply, then pulled back.

 

“So, we’ve got about four hours until we have to be at strike. Did you want to go home, or do you want to stay here?”

 

“I’ll stay here. It’s closer to the theatre. And also that means I get to spend more time with my boyfriend, so it’s a win-win.”

 

“Great,” he smiled. “Anything in particular you want to do?”

 

“Do you have Netflix?”

 

“Yep!”

 

“Then let’s watch a movie and cuddle.” Grace decided.

 

“Sounds great to me! Which movie?”

 

“Ooh, what about Hairspray?”

 

“You have good taste. I’ll get it cued up, you grab some blankets from my bed.”

 

A few hours later, Grace and Ajay watched the credits scroll across the scene. Ajay’s arm was still around her, her legs thrown across his lap.

 

“Every time I watch that movie I remember why it’s my favorite,” Grace sighed. Ajay laughed at her gently, then pulled his arm back. She took her legs off his lap, turning to face him.

 

“Okay, now we’ve got one hour before strike. And I actually thought of something I wanted to do,” he said, gently taking her hand.

 

Grace wiggled her eyebrows at him.

 

“No! I mean, yes, but I actually wanted to say something.”

 

“Alright, go for it,” Grace said, taking in his serious expression. “Everything okay?”   
  


“Of course. I just need to say something, in the interest of complete honesty between us.”

 

“Spit it out,” Grace said, growing concerned. He didn’t make eye contact, instead staring at their linked hands.

 

“Okay. So,” he huffed, “I don’t know if I should qualify it by saying ‘again’ or ‘still’, but…” he trailed off, seemingly losing his nerve. She tightened her grip on his hand, trying to offer him support. But it was hard to support him when she had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth next. He took in a deep, shuddering breath and finally met her eyes.

 

“Grace, I love you.”

 

She let the words resonate around the small apartment, her grip on his hands slackening and her eyes widening. He looked like he wanted badly to take it back, but they both knew he couldn’t.

 

“I- Ajay,” Grace started, then stopped suddenly. It was as if her entire brain had switched off when he’d said those words. Her heart started beating faster, like it was making up for her head’s inactivity.

 

He squeezed her hand, looking a little sad but still smiling. She looked away, still trying desperately to figure out how she felt about it.

 

“You don’t have to say it back, I know it’s really soon and we’ve both been through a lot, but I had to say it. I don’t know if it’s because of the friendship we rebuilt over the course of the show, or if it’s because we rekindled something, but that’s how I feel. And I won’t say it anymore until you’re comfortable with it. But I needed to tell you.” 

 

He kept rambling, but Grace didn’t register any of the words he said past that. Tears pricked in her eyes, and her brain was finally startled back into action. Between the tears and the pounding in her chest, Grace figured out exactly how she was feeling.

 

“I love you too,” she said suddenly, cutting him off. She finally looked back at him, lacing their fingers back together. “I love you too.”

 

She watched as the realization spread across his face, a hesitant smile forming there.

 

“You love me?” he asked, voice shaky.

 

“I love you,” she replied, and found it to be the truest, rawest feeling in her head. “It’s not too soon. Between our friendship, our previous relationship and all the emotions of last night, I… it’s not too soon. It’s the perfect time. I love you again, and I love you still.”

 

They sat and stared at each other for a moment, lost in a universe all their own. She watched as he went from near disbelief to shock to pure love, something that she’d seen in his eyes before but never quite this much. He pulled her to him and captured her lips in a passionate kiss, holding her tightly against him. When they separated, he pulled her into a hug, pressing his face into her shoulder.

 

“I love you,” he whispered to her, repeating it over and over. She leaned back to kiss his forehead and to cup his face.

 

“I love you too.”


End file.
